The United States' top intelligence agency, Federal Bureau of
Investigations (FBI) says that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) is the most dangerous and deadly extremist organization in the
world. The official website of FBI in its tops story said that LTTE is
far more dangerous terrorists outfit than al Queda, Hezbullah or even
HAMAS. Read more...

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Tuesday, 24 August 2010 07:35 AM

Indo-Canadian
MP rejects soft corner to Tamil Tigers

STOP! Trying to Stop
Tamil Boats & Tamil People! - by Prof.
Hudson McLean - What Paranoia! STOP! Trying to Stop Tamil Boats &
Tamil People leaving Sri Lanka! Let the Tamil People flee in their Trains
& Boats & Planes, to where ever they wish to head. Australia and
Canada have adequate resources to prevent immigration or facilities and
funds to adopt new immigrants. The US$50,000 Factor. It is now comfortably
established that the near 500 Tamils on MV Sun Sea paid US$ 50,000 given a
few thousand or two less, for the ride. It is assumed that the funds
came from Tamil expats, Diaspora or indeed from the coffers of LTTE. Most
certainly, the funds awarded to the Tamil passengers were not gratis.
Most likely, each passenger would have to pay-back the loan for the
rest of his/her life. How will they earn the repayment during a ten
year period with compound interest? The loan sharks will write the hymn
sheet, and the passengers, whether they get the rights to refugee
status or not, will be forced to payback. Drug running, prostitution, and
other illegal activities will be the Agenda. Happy are those Canadian
businessmen who will get slave labour into their oil, fisheries and other
high-labour intensive industries, through Tamil middlemen and pimps. A few
parliamentarians will benefit and get the additional vote, arranged by the
middlemen and their legal counsel. And after a few years like
Tamil-Canadian lawyer Luxmi Vasan who arrived as a refugee at Torontos
airport in 1991 with her year-old son, those Tamil refugees will
return to Jaffna, as prosperous tourists with their newly acquired wealth.
I fail to comprehend why certail contributors in LankaWeb are hell-bent on
getting back all these Tamils who are so desperate to leave Sri Lanka. Why
have the additional financial burden of another 1000 Tamils who hate the
Sinhala people and their government, bring them back and water-down
current resources to re-habilitate them? Australians and Canadians are
fully aware of the existence of Tamil Nadu. Furthermore, Australians and
Canadians know the differences between their European based culture and
civilisation, and that of Tamil Nadu. The last country the Sri Lankan
Tamils wish to emigrate to, is Tamil Nadu. And we all know why! As a small
island, the Sri Lankan population is growing. The country is far from
giving a decent standard of living to the low-end, or boast
full-employment. Under these conditions why create additional problems of
moaning, groaning ex-LTTE Tamils? These so called ex-LTTE Tamils should be
allowed to take all their excess baggage, suicide-jackets, rocket
launchers and Dosai pans, and settle down in any country on earth (LankaWeb
; 23 Aug 2010).

Dan Mathson: Your
interview with Manjula Selvarajah - Asoka
Weerasinghe Kings Grove Crescent . Gloucester . Ontario . Canada August
20, 2010 - Dan Matheson CTV News: Dear Dan Matheson: Heres my response
to the Canadian Tamil Congress spokesperson Manjula Selvarajas defence
of the Sea Sun illegal Tamil migrants during your interview. You asked,
why had these Tamils paid so much of money to get on that ship when they
could have easily got on a plane to come over to Canada. Her response was
that these people were so desperate to get out of Sri Lanka and that is
why and that they had no option. My response is : Of course they had an
option. Without flying out of Sri Lanka to get on that people smuggling
ship in Thailand, they could have easily gone to their Mother India just
22 miles away from the shores of Jaffna where 66 million of their brethren
Tamils live in Tamil Nadu in South India. Why didnt they? Did they find
that Tamil Nadu wasnt green enough than the greener pastures that they
were seeking in Canada which is almost 20 thousand miles away. What was
their motive? Are they indeed economic refugees and had n patience to stay
in line with the rest of the 4,000 applicants to immigrate from Sri Lanka?
Or did they know that they would not have a chance in hell to get into
Canada legally on a point system basis? But the question that is going
begging is, how did these 492 illegal Tamil migrants find millions of
rupees to fork out for that passage. They had paid $45 thousand each which
when converted into Sri Lankan rupees are in the millions four times over.
If indeed they say they were poor, how come they became millionaires over
night. If they admit that they are not millionaires, not gem merchants,
not owners of tea estates, not share holders of multi-national companies,
not bank robbers, not drug traffickers, nor credit card fraudsters, then
who was it that paid for their passage to Canada? The above is a good
question which the RCMP should probe to choke this global human
trafficking million dollar net work and the RCMP should start probing by
questioning Manjula for starters who may or may not have some answers (Lankaweb
: 22 Aug 2010).

Baseless attack on the
LLRC by low-life at the Sunday Leader - by Ajit
Randeniya - As far as double-barrel names go, the name of Mandana
Ismail-Abeywickrema (MIA), one of the self-described investigative
reporters at The Sunday Leader is a corker, as an Australian would
say. This MIA has probably been more fortunate with her naming than her
other inheritance, the mantle of that erstwhile investigative reporter
and current editor of the rag, Frederica Jansz; now that is a real dog.
Before we get to MIAs work at the Sunday leader, it needs to be put on
record that the first name Mandana is a name made famous in the UK in the
1990s by a British actress named Mandana Jones . Research shows that
the name Mandana in fact has Persian origins, coming from queen Mandana of
Media, the mother of the Persian emperor Cyrus the Great: the name
apparently means wise mother or female seer! To digress
for a moment, Mandana Jones played the role of prisoner Nikki Wade on the
British television series Bad Girls: a lesbian who finds herself in
jail after killing a police officer for assaulting her lover, and falls in
love with prison governor (played by Simone Lahbib of Monarch of the
Glen fame). According to audience research, the collective
performances of these two characters have transported many a viewer, dare
I say predominantly the middle-aged demographic, to bliss.
Now, before the morally upright types start rushing to conclusions about a
middle-aged Sri Lankan mans interest in such debauchery portrayed in a
teen-oriented TV show such as Bad Girls, the writer wishes to stress
that his keen interest in the lengthy, complex story line involving these
two characters was purely bookish, with his devoted viewing of the show
leading to the valid criticism that the scenes involving key moments
were wanting in the area of anatomical detail: such detail could have
greatly enriched the plot! (LankaWeb
: 22 Aug 2010).

Interview with
M.Selvaraja of Canadian Tamil Congress - Ira de
Silva London, Ontario, Canada - Mr. Dan Matheson. CTV; Dear Sir: I am
writing regarding your interview with the spokesperson for the Canadian
Tamil Congress. Are you aware that this organization prides itself as the
front organization of the Tamil Tiger terrorist organization and is now
the chief component of the Trans National Government of Tamil Eelam which
was formed to further the goal of the Tamil Tigers after the defeat of the
Tamil terrorists militarily? If you do not, I would suggest that you read
their announcements regarding their role in these organizations and
question their affiliation with these latest arrivals. Regarding your
question as to why these Tamils paid so much to get on that ship when they
could easlty have got on a plane indicates that you are somewhat confused.
Selvarajahs response was that it was because they were desperate. What
were they desperate about? Is it because the UN has declared that Sri
Lanka is no longer a refugee producing country or because they had been an
integral part of the LTTE in Sri Lanka? Giving the lie to Selvarajah, I
refer you to a report filed by the Toronto Star reporter Raveena Aulakh on
Aug. 14,2010. In an interview with one of the arrivals on the ship in
October, 2010 one of the men had stated that he was a 33 year old farmer,
had bribed a soldier at a camp and got a fake ID, left the camp and within
three days FLEW out of Colombo to Malaysia and paid $45,000 to join the
Ocean Lady. Since you seem to have little knowledge of Sri Lanka, I
would like you to know that the average farmer in Sri Lanka is not the
same as farmers in Canada with thousands of acres. They have small plots
and are just able to make a living. They do not have $45,000 in their bank
accounts  that kind of money has to given to them by an organization to
which they belong (LankaWeb
; 22 Aug 2010).

International
community should take Sri Lanka as an example - Defence secretary tells
LLRC - During the first few days of the hearings
of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC), several key
personalities came up with the shortcomings of the truce between the UNP
Government and the LTTE, the human rights violations committed by the LTTE
and measures taken by the present government to maintain zero casualty
rates in the humanitarian operation that was launched to rescue over
290,000 civilians during the final battle. The Sri Lankan Commission on
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation appointed by President Mahinda Rajapaksa
commenced sittings at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International
Relations and Strategic Studies, Colombo from August 11. The Commission
was appointed by the President under Section 2 of the Commission of
Inquiry Act to inquire and report on several areas between the period of
February 21, 2002 and May 19, 2009. It completed six sittings in Colombo
and two sittings in Vavuniya. The Commission is tasked with inquiring into
matters and circumstances that led to the failure of the Ceasefire
Agreement (CFA) which came in to effect from February 21, 2002 and the
sequence of events that followed thereafter up to May 19, 2009. It will
investigate whether any person, group or institution directly or
indirectly bears responsibility for any failure, the lessons which could
be learnt from such failures and measures that need to be taken to ensure
that there is no recurrence of a similar conflict in future (Sunday
Observer ; 22 Aug 2010).

Branch of British Council
to be opened in Jaffna - Ms. Gill Westway
Country Director, British Council said the Council would be opening a
branch office in Jaffna early next year, She said discussions had been
held with the External Affairs Ministry in Colombo and added the Council
had carried out a survey in Jaffna regarding the feasibility of opening a
branch in the city. The survey result showed a massive 83% of the people
awaiting the opening of a branch of the British Council in Jaffna. Ms.
Westway said for the past 30 years Jaffna had been cut off from the rest
of the country and this was one of the reasons the Council had given
priority to opening a branch in the city. She added the opening of the new
branch would help students in Jaffna sit for London Exams and in addition
would help them witness cultural programmes sponsored by the organization (Sunday
Times : 22 Aug 2010).

IPKF sacrifices
recognised at last - The monument built in the
vicinity of the Parliamentary complex in Kotte in honour of the Indian
troops killed in the north and east of Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990,
was to have been formally unveiled by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
more than two years ago, but it turned out to be a non-event. However, the
monument has now received official sanction from India. Indian High
Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha laid a wreath at the monument on Indian
Independence Day which fell last Sunday. Earlier Indian Navy Commander
Nirmal Verma who visited Sri Lanka in June this year too visited the
monument to pay his respects to the fallen men. However the Indian
approval for the monument has been slow in coming. Prime Minister Singh
was to unveil it when he visited Sri Lanka in May 2008 for the Heads of
State Summit of the South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation (SAARC)
but the visit was abandoned due to rising anti-Sri Lankan sentiments at
the time in South India (Sunday
Times : 22 Aug 2010).

Change the slogan from
Stop Boats to Stop Tamils - by Sunil Vijayapala,
Australia - Both leading Australian parties have agreed on one agenda and
that is to stop boats with bogus asylum seekers or now they coin the
phrase illegal emigrants an accurate refreshing phrase. Australia,
unlike Canada, is certainly not ready for SHIPS full of illegal immigrants
as they will have no capacity to accommodate them. Who ever who comes to
power must stop these Tamils jumping the queue on legal immigration to
Australia and Canada which may affect Tamils themselves who aspire for a
better life though legal means. These latest Tamils have spent around $22
million or approximately Rs.2200 million to travel from Thailand to BC and
one wonders where in the world they get this kind of money. We certainly
are not in position to make any statements on other asylum seekers as we
are not aware of the ground situation in those countries but can
categorically state Sri Lanka is a safe place to live for all minorities
including Tamils while the majority of Tamils live in Colombo and other
parts of Sri Lanka, leading normal lives and are represented in Parliament
and other state bodies adequately, unlike in Australia. Tamils play the
usual trump card of persecution by Sinhala government to get the
sympathy of Australians and Canadians while they prepare themselves to
suffer in detention for long periods in Thailand or Indonesia to creep
into these two countries. No Australian or Canadian would ask the simple
question why dont they go to Tamil Nadu in India, the safest place for
Tamils, if they are under persecution in Sri Lanka? The simple answer is
that Tigers finance these operations as no one would not expect a group of
simple Jaffna Tamils to acquire Rs.2200 million a colossal amount by Sri
Lanka standards. These people are quite aware that they will have no
chance with the legal immigration and hence resort to Asylum card
(LankaWeb ; 22 Aug 2010).

Did we fail to market the
atrocities of the LTTE? - Last week when I saw
my former colleague from the Government Peace Secretariat appearing before
the "Lessons Learned and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) and
later that evening we saw the adverse publicity on BBC and CNN, it was
very evident that global perception were very sympathetic towards the LTTE.
It was then that I decided that it is my duty to write these thoughts,
given that we were part of the larger team that fought the war with the
LTTE. What the world repeatedly forgets is that the LTTE has brutally
killed over 70,000 Sri Lankans which includes presidents, leading Tamil
intellectuals, foreign ministers, clergy, school children, mercantile
employees and civilians and is a banned organization in over twenty five
countries around the world. Whilst this is the reality, the question is
why the world is yet sympathetic to the LTTE and this is an issue we have
to resolve if we are serious about making Sri Lanka the Wonder of Asia (Island
; 22 Aug 2010).

Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission: Sandagiri can challenge Austins evidence 
Chairman - Chairman of the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) C. R. de Silva says retired Navy Chief
Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri can challenge former Defence Secretary Austin
Fernandos recent statement before the commission. Responding to a query
by The Island yesterday, de Silva said that Sandagiri would have to
testify before the commission as his recent statement to the media could
not be considered official. Rejecting former Defence Secretary Fernandos
claim before the LLRC that the CFA was first brought to his attention by
the then Navy Commander Sandagiri, an irate Sandagiri told The Island that
the armed forces commanders had not been consulted before the UNF
government signed the agreement with the LTTE. The retired navy chief
accused ex-Defence Secretary Fernando of trying to deceive the Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission. Testifying before the commission
last Wednesday, Fernando said that he had had nothing to do with the CFA.
Secretary to LLRC S.M. Samarakoon yesterday told The Island that the
commission would meet shortly to decide on the second set of witnesses to
be summoned in September. Samarakoon declined to comment on possible
witnesses, though he recently told The Island that UNP leader Ranil
Wickremesinghe, External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris and former minister
Milinda Moragoda could be summoned. Sandagiri on Saturday told The Island
that he was ready to appear before the commission to set the record
straight. According to him, service commanders had first received an
indication of the CFA at a meeting in December 2001 or January 2002 at
Visumpaya addressed by the then Defence Minister Tilak Marapone and
Minister Prof. G. L. Peiris (Island
; 22 Aug 2010).

Chinese aid for Northern
hospitals - The Chinese government has provided
a 65-million-dollar soft loan for upgrading health facilities in the war
affected Northern and Eastern provinces. Health Ministry sources
said that the MoU had been signed for providing urgently required medical
equipment and constructing and refurbishing hospital buildings under the
Chinese assistance, at the ministry recently. Secretary to the
Health Ministry Dr. Raveendra Ruberu and President of CETC International
Corporation signed the MoU. He said that the government had already
launched a programme to upgrade facilities in hospitals in the North and
the East since the defeat of the LTTE last year. The Chinese financial
assistance would help accelerate the programme. According to the
agreement, the medical needs of resettled people are also to be looked
into besides the provision of modern intensive and surgical care units,
laboratories and equipment (Island
; 22 Aug 2010).

Economic refugees -
Despite public opinion in Canada, by and large, supporting the point of
view that the Sri Lankan boat people who docked in that country on board a
Thai-flagged cargo freighter, MV Sun Sea, be sent packing regardless of
whether any of the ships nearly 500 passenger had legitimate asylum
claims or not, a section of the Canadian public and press has been
sympathetic to these boat people. The Toronto Star, in a recent editorial
commented that ``Canada does not have a Tamil `problem whatever critics
of our refuges system may say about the arrival here of the cargo
freighter We processed 34,000 refugee claims last year; these
arrivals wont overtax the system. These sentiments, no doubt, are
a reflection of Canadas traditional liberal immigration policies and
the view that wherever possible, genuine refugees and asylum-seekers must
be accommodated. Nobody would, or should, quarrel with such generosity
which is a diminishing commodity in a world in which material values gain
precedence by the day. But the question is how genuine are these asylum
seekers? They would certainly be economic refugees in the sense that they
can validly aspire to a more prosperous lifestyle in Canada than would be
possible for them in Sri Lanka. Or for that matter, as suggested in a news
report published in yesterdays issue of The Island, they could be
hardcore LTTEers who had already fled Sri Lanka and were living in some
South East Asian countries like Malaysia and Thailand who, believing that
conditions following KPs arrest in Malaysia would be less hospitable,
decided to try and get into Canada (Island
: 21 Aug 2010).

NGOs to be removed -
The government is prepared to order NGOs who are linked with funding
the LTTE, to shut down and have their officials deported, Prime Minister
D. M. Jayaratna told Daily Mirror online. Prime Minister Jayaratna said
that the government has identified NGOs who have provided finance, fire
arms and advice to the LTTE and have taken measures to cancel their
licenses. With regard to accusations that the government was not
permitting NGOs to visit mined and resettled areas in the North, the Prime
Minister stated that if an NGO official is injured while visiting mined
areas, the government would have to take the responsibility. Therefore the
Government has decided to permit visits only after de-mining is completed
and will not succumb to pressure from the international community, Prime
Minister Jayaratna added. (Daily
Mirror online : 22 Aug 2010).

Second foreign mediated
ceasefire was in the air: Sandagiri - A retired
security forces commander says the then UNP-led UNF government had
indicated the possibility of another foreign mediated ceasefire at a
meeting held at Visumpaya shortly after the December 2001 general
election, where Defence Minister Tilak Marapone faulted the armed forces
for failing in their job. Among the present at the meeting were leader of
the government peace delegation Minister G. L. Peiris, Peace Secretariat
Chief Ambassador Bernard Goonetilike, Lt. General Lionel Balagalle and
Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri. Sources told The Sunday Island that Minister
Marapone had said that the country could not continue with war and a way
out of the mess was necessary. Sources said that the meeting could have
taken place in late December 2001 or January 2002 to brief the security
forces chiefs. Sandagiri told The Sunday Island that the LTTE had made an
attempt to smuggle in armaments hours before the signing of the agreement
on February 22, 2002. He said that they had not received any official
intimation until he along with Lt.General Balagalle visited Parliament on
February 21 to meet the then Defence Secretary Austin Fernando, who had
been with chief Norwegian peace facilitator Erik Solheim. He emphasized
that there had not absolutely been consultations with the military top
brass before the signing of the CFA. Testifying before the Lessons Learnt
Commission, Austin Fernando squarely blamed the then Jaffna Security
Forces Commander Major General Sarath Fonseka for obstructing the peace
process. The ongoing Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission is
probing the circumstances in which Sri Lanka entered into CFA with the
LTTE, its failure due to shortcomings on the part of those responsible for
the Norwegian-led negotiating process. Political and security sources told
The Sunday Island that then President Chandrika Kumaratunga had supported
the peace process, though she subsequently gave in to JVP pressure and
dissolved Parliament in February 2004. Sources said Norwegians had been
involved in a previous bid (1994-1995) to negotiate a deal with the LTTE
on the invitation of Kumaratunga. The commission is expected to conclude
its proceedings within six months. Its sittings began on August 11 at the
Kadirgamar Institute for International Relations (Island
: 21 Aug 2010).

Tamil Tigers Smuggle
Illegal Migrants aboard Ocean Lady and MV Sun Sea -
by SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA (SLUNA) - Canada has
admitted 76 Tamil men who arrived aboard the Ocean Lady in October
2009, and is presently dealing with a further batch of 492 Tamils who
arrived on board the MV Sun Sea which reached the BC shores on
August 13, 2010. These two vessels have been identified as part of the
Tamil Tigers merchant marine fleet previously used in transporting
weapons, explosives and smuggling of narcotics, now refitted to smuggle
human cargo. The Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) has been in the forefront
organizing teams of highly paid lawyers to assist the asylum seekers with
their refugee applications. The CTC which was formed in 2001 following the
listing of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the UN as a
terrorist group has taken over the torch from the better known front
organizations called the World Tamil Movement (WTM) and the umbrella group
known as FACT which have moved their operations underground. The human
smugglers involved in the operation are obviously those leaders of the
pro-Tamil Tiger diaspora in Canada who seek to profit immensely from the
ridiculously high passage fee of $45,000  50,000 levied from each
illegal migrant, and the opportunity to keep the myth of the supposed
persecution of Tamils in Sri Lanka alive through media attention. The
other objective is to gather the remnants of the Tamil Tiger fighting
cadres in an asylum granting liberal democracy such as Canada, and pursue
the objective of carving out a separate state of Eelam for Tamils in
Sri Lanka as envisioned by the newly formed Trans-National Government of
Tamil Eelam (TGTE) of which the Canadian pro-LTTE diaspora is the largest
and active segment (Lankaweb
: 21 Aug 2010).

Indo-Canadian MP rejects
soft corner to Tamil Tigers - An Indo-Canadian
MP who stood in a sea of LTTE flags and listened as protesters chanted Tamil
Tiger, freedom fighter has denied that he supports Tamil Tigers.
Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi said that a column that ran in QMI Agency
newspapers earlier this week by Levant misrepresented the facts in
suggesting that I support the Tamil Tigers, when my allegiance is to the
protection of human rights of individuals around the world. I
have spoken out against violations of human rights wherever they have
occurred around the world, Toronto Sun reported quoting a letter to the
Editor written by Malhi. Also note that the event at which I was
present and that is mentioned in the column was actually a Tamil-Canadian
community rally, Malhi wrote (Indian
Express : 21 Aug 2010).

Vaiko thwarted Indian bid
for ceasefire: KP - Kumaran Pathmanathan,alias
KP, who was the LTTEs international plenipotentiary in the last stages
of Eelam War IV, has said that MDMK leader Vaiko thwarted Indias bid to
bring about a ceasefire ahead of the May 2009 parliamentary elections in
Tamil Nadu. KP, who is currently under detention in Sri Lanka, told Daily
Mirror on Saturday, that the LTTEs political commissar, B.Nadesan, had
asked some sympathisers in the ruling DMK like Chief Minister
Karunanidhis daughter Kanimozhi, and Catholic priest Fr.Jegath Gaspar
Raj, to persuade New Delhi to help bring about a ceasefire and prevent the
annihilation of the LTTE and its leader, V.Prabhakaran. New Delhi, KP
said, was open to discussion on the idea because the DMK-Congress combine
in Tamil Nadu was getting worried about losing the elections with
opposition AIADMK leader Jayalalithaa taking a strident pro-LTTE stance (Express
Buzz : 21 Aug 2010).

Resettlement of remaining
10% IDPs to end soon - Sri Lankan government has
completed the resettlement of over 235000 IDPs in the north and eastern
provinces. During the final stage of the war with LTTE over 260,000 people
had fled the LTTE and came to no fire zones created by the government at
that time. Mr. Chandra Fernando, a presidential advisor on north and east
development has said that all efforts would be made to complete the
resettlement of remaining 10 percent of IDPs before end of September.
"We hope to be able to complete the resettlement before end of
September. There are only 28,000 people left to be resettled in
Mullaithivu and Kilinochchi (the former rebel strongholds in the
north)," Fernando said. He said the resettlement in Mannar and
Vavuniya districts in the north have been 95 percent completed. Sri Lanka
has made a significant progress in resettling the IDPs within the time
frame of one year when compared with most other conflict affected
countries where large numbers of people had been displaced (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 21 Aug 2010).

The impossible
voyage of a Tamil ghost ship - Whispers about a
boat headed to Canada began long ago in Thailands small and closely
knit Tamil community. Among the regulars at the New Madras Café  a
Tamil restaurant in the bustling commercial heart of Bangkok that serves
roti, curry and lassis under photographs of the beaches of the Tamil
heartland in northern Sri Lanka  there was frequent talk that the
infamous Tamil Tigers, or at least some of their ex-operatives, were
planning something: A money-raising operation that would also help the
organization regroup after its devastating defeat ended Sri Lanka's
three-decade civil war. The talk started a long time ago. But it wasnt
just talk, one of the cafés regulars says. What eventually emerged
out of that idle chatter  the saga of the Sun Sea and its 492
bedraggled passengers  is the stuff of spy thrillers. A ship purchased
by a man who was rich on paper, but lived in apparent poverty in a cheap
apartment. Hundreds of people loaded onto small fishing boats and taken
out to sea to rendezvous in international waters. A mid-sea clash with a
Thai warship, the chase abandoned only when the so-called ghost ship
reached Vietnamese waters. The plan to take Tamils fleeing the
aftermath of Sri Lankas civil war to Canada appears to have been
hatched almost two years ago. But though authorities tracked the Sun Sea
for months before its arrival off the coast of British Columbia, those
operating the boat were always a step ahead, adept not only at moving
people across borders and oceans, but also at keeping their operation
quiet and covering their tracks. But there is a trail. The ship that came
to be known as the Sun Sea arrived in Songkhla on April 1 at the end of
what was expected to be its final journey. Barely seaworthy, the ships
previous owners had agreed to sell it for scrap after it made one last
delivery of animal feed from Bangkok to this southern port city, which is
known as much as a hub for human trafficking and sex tourism from nearby
Malaysia as for its white-sand beaches and the offshore-oil platform that
drives its economy during daylight hours (Gloobe
& Mail : 21 Aug 2010).

Indian commitment to
rebuild the Northern Province reiterated - The
government of India has agreed to continue its assistance in the field of
de-mining requirements in Northern Sri Lanka, for another one year. High
Commissioner Ashok K. Kantha has informed the Ministry of Economic
Development that his government has agreed to extend the terms of 7 Indian
de-mining agencies from the Horizon and Sarvatra organizations who have
been working in Sri Lanka for several years. The extension of the
contracts of these organizations for another one year amounts to Rs. 410
Million. It is expected that in addition to contributing to the critical
task of resettling IDPs, these teams will be deployed for the de-miningwork
required for the reconstruction of the Northern Railway Network as well.
The Indian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mr. Ashok K. Khanta informing
about the aforementioned extension facilities in a letter sent to the
Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Development, has reiterated India's
continued commitment to assist the Government of Sri Lanka in the task of
reconstruction and rehabilitation in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 21 Aug 2010).

Sri Lanka-India ferry
deal draft ready: envoy India and Sri Lanka have
prepared the draft of an agreement to resume ferry services across the
narrow strip of water separating the two countries, the Indian envoy in
Colombo said. "We've finalised the draft of the
agreement," Indian high commissioner Ashok Kantha said.
"The two countries have in principle agreed on starting the ferry
services." The proposal is to revive a ferry service disrupted
by the island's ethnic war and start new services. The ethnic war,
which ended in May 2009, disrupted the ferry service between Talaimannar,
on Sri Lanka's north-west, and Rameshwaram, in south India. India is
giving a loan to Sri Lanka to rebuild a rail track to Talaimannar with the
contract being awarded to IRCON, an Indian government-owned firm.
The two countries also plan to start ferry services between Colombo port
and the southern Indian ports of Cochin and Tuticorin, Kantha said (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 21 Aug 2010).

HOW
PRABHAKARAN MET HIS DEATH :KP SPEAKS OUT-3 -
(CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Q: What happened finally to your plan of
rescuing Prabhakaran and his family by helicopter? Why did the plan not
take off? Its a very sad story After Prabhakarans son Charles
Anthony asked me to rescue his family members by air I devised a plan and
made preliminary arrangements. I arranged for a ship to be kept waiting at
a far off port beyond the reach of the Sri Lanka navy. I also made
arrangements to buy a second-hand helicopter from an Ukrainian contact.
The idea was for one or two trained pilots from the LTTEs airwing Vaan
Puligal to fly into the Wanni. If Prabhakaran was willing ,the family
except for Charles Anthony were to be flown out. If the leader was
unwilling then he and a few other of his bodyguards and senior leaders
were to be flown by the copter and dropped off in a jungle location in
Lanka. Afterwards the heli would fly out to the ship with Prabhakarans
wife Madhivadhani, daughter Thuwaraga and younger son Balachandran and
perhaps a few others. I would be waiting for them at the ship. Thereafter
I planned to keep the family safely in one of three countries. Perhaps in
rotation. Q: Were these countries ready to accept the family? Were they
western nations? No, they were not countries in the west. Two were in
Africa and one in Asia. I had been in touch with senior govt officials of
these countries through my representatives. When I had sounded them out on
this matter they were willing. Q: The plan itself was rather risky? Were
you confident of it succeeding? Yes, it was risky but I was ready to carry
it out. We had no choice. If we didnt risk it, the alternative was
certain death. I also had a secret hope that Prabhakaran may agree at the
last minute and opt to fly out. So I devised the plan. The key element was
surprise. If the first stage was successful we may have tried further
flights too to rescue others. Q: But then what went wrong? It never worked
out. It required about 1.5 million US dollars to implement the plan. I did
not have that kind of money. The LTTE overseas structure had to give me
the money. Castro had promised Charles Anthony that Nediyavan in Norway
will transfer the necessary funds to me. But he never did it. I made
repeated requests that it was urgent and time was running out. I would be
told, the money is coming, money is coming. But sadly it never came.
Also Nediyavan was in touch with Atchuthan the Air wing chief living
abroad. Earlier he had agreed to provide the required LTTE pilots for the
operation. But then suddenly acting perhaps under Nediyavans orders he
stopped communicating with me. I was really frantic. I approached
mercenary pilots to fly the helicopter but nothing further could be done
without necessary funds (Daily
Mirror : 21 Aug 2010).

Demand for
LTTE land - The civilians who have been recently
resettled in the north have complained to the Government Agent (GA) in
Kilinochchi that the land which was forcefully taken away from them by the
LTTE is not being returned by the army, Military sources told Daily Mirror
online. However according army sources the land owners had sold the land
to the LTTE and had used the funds to send their children aboard. Some of
the significant plots of land include the land used to house the LTTE
administration office and LTTE head quarters as well as the land
previously used by slain LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Discussions
regarding these land issues are scheduled to take place between the GA and
the army next week (Daily
Mirror online : 21 Aug 2010).

Further assistance from
Germany for IDPs - Germany has granted Euro
135,000 to support ongoing emergency assistance project accommodated at
Menik Farm, Vavuniya implemented by Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB.). A
spokesperson for the embassy told The Island that this would bring relief
to IDPs still at Menik Farm. She quoted the German Ambassador Jens
Ploetner as saying Germany was concerned about those unable to return to
their villages over one year after the conclusion of the war in May last
year. The project launched on August 1st, 2010 with funds provided by
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will provide hygienic kits, toilet cleaning
kits, material and labour necessary for the repair of shelters and
toilets. Additionally, the funds will ensure that ASB continues to provide
water for a large number of people. The spokesperson said that ASB had
been providing over 120,000 litres of water per day to about 12,000 IDPs
throughout. Over 28,000 IDPs in Menik Farm will benefit from this
Emergency Assistance Project (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 21 Aug 2010).

Captain
of Sun Sea has links to LTTE Tamil Tigers

Austin misleads lessons
learnt Comm.  Sandagiri - Rejecting former
Defence Secretary Austin Fernandos claim that the CFA was first brought
to his attention by the then Navy Commander Vice Admiral Daya Sandagiri,
an irate Sandagiri told The Island that the armed forces commanders had
not been consulted before the UNF government signed the agreement with the
LTTE. The retired navy chief accused ex-Defence Secretary Fernando of
trying to deceive the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission.
Testifying before the commission on Wednesday, Fernando said that he had
nothing to do with the CFA. Sandagiri said that the government had
summoned the military top brass to parliament on February 21, 2002, the
day before the signing of the CFA to inform them of its decision.
Sandagiri said that there was absolutely no truth in the ex-Defence
Secretarys claim that he got to know about the CFA from the then
Commanders of the Navy and Army (Lt. General Lionel Balagalle). Responding
to a query by The Island, Sandagiri said that when service chiefs visited
parliament on February 21, Fernando had been in the company of chief
Norwegian facilitator Erik Solheim, who left for Kilinochchi shortly
afterwards with the CFA in an SLAF chopper from the parliamentary grounds.
Sandagiri alleged that Fernando had directed him to provide an area off
Trincomalee for Sea Tigers to conduct exercises. He said that he had no
option but to reject Fernandos directive and even offer to step down if
he was forced to give in to the LTTE demand. The former navy chief said
that he would go before the Lessons Learnt Commission to reveal the truth (Island
: 20 Aug 2010).

Tamil Tigers Smuggle
Illegal Migrants aboard Ocean Lady and MV Sun Sea-
by SRI LANKA UNITED NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CANADA - Canada has admitted
76 Tamil men who arrived aboard the Ocean Lady in October 2009, and
is presently dealing with a further batch of 492 Tamils who arrived on
board the MV Sun Sea which reached the BC shores on August 13, 2010.
These two vessels have been identified as part of the Tamil Tigers
merchant marine fleet previously used in transporting weapons, explosives
and smuggling of narcotics, now refitted to smuggle human cargo. The
Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) has been in the forefront organizing teams
of highly paid lawyers to assist the asylum seekers with their refugee
applications. The CTC which was formed in 2001 following the listing of
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) by the UN as a terrorist group
has taken over the torch from the better known front organizations called
the World Tamil Movement (WTM) and the umbrella group known as FACT which
have moved their operations underground. The human smugglers involved in
the operation are obviously those leaders of the pro-Tamil Tiger diaspora
in Canada who seek to profit immensely from the ridiculously high passage
fee of $45,000  50,000 levied from each illegal migrant, and the
opportunity to keep the myth of the supposed persecution of Tamils in Sri
Lanka alive through media attention. The other objective is to gather the
remnants of the Tamil Tiger fighting cadres in an asylum granting liberal
democracy such as Canada, and pursue the objective of carving out a
separate state of Eelam for Tamils in Sri Lanka as envisioned by the
newly formed Trans-National Government of Tamil Eelam (TGTE) of which the
Canadian pro-LTTE diaspora is the largest and active segment (LankaWeb
; 20 Aug 2010).

Peter Showler: Getting
Tough on Refugees - by Asoka weerasinghe, Canada
- The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN, Sir: O me Gawd, here comes
another joker making his two cents worth of insinuations of how bad the
Sri Lankan government is towards the minority Tamils, thus supporting the
cause of the 492 illegal Tamil migrants of the Sun Sea to be allowed in as
refugees. I was disappointed to read Peter Showlers essay on Getting
Tough on Refugees. I am prepared to dismiss his whole essay as
biased piffle when he says, Three hundred thousand Tamil civilians were
displaced and interred in camps where rights violations have been alleged.
International observers were denied access to the camps. The Tamil
region is still under military control. Many of the people on the boat may
well have suffered physical injuries, arbitrary arrests and imprisonment 
and he drags on with his piffle. What Showler failed to acknowledge
was that the Government of Sri Lanka rescued nearly 300,000 Tamils who
were held hostage by the Tamil Tigers as a human shield for 35 months and
hoarded them from the west of the island to the east like cattle while in
retreat from the assault by the armed forces. They were placed in
welfare camps to process their identity, like what the Canadians are doing
with the 492 illegal Tamil migrants. Sure, the camps were not five-star
hotels, but at least they had beds to sleep on, fed three meals a day,
provided medical attention in temporary medical clinics and had temporary
schools with qualified teachers for the children, until the terrain was
demined, houses rebuilt and infrastructures reconstructed to let the
people leave to safety . That was the humane thing to do, and the Sri
Lankan government did it (LankaWeb
; 21 Aug 2010).

ABC National Radio-360
Documentary Whatever happened to OV78? - by
Vajeera Warnakulasuriya, Melbourne - .... A chap who had fled from a
country of twenty odd million people and who had lived in a remote area in
the North or East expects that another Sri Lankan would recognize him?
Surely this chap has to be a very famous, popular figure such as right or
left hand man of the dead LTTE leader, still such a man is not known to a
casual Sri Lankan who may see him. However, only Sri Lankans that would
recognize him would be Tamils who have come from the same area he has been
living. Surely, his own people would not let him down, after all they
helped him to get to this point even if he happened to be a hard core LTTE
cadre. Would a refugee from any other country who resides in Australia
behave like that? So then, this is all hype to dress you as a fool to get
your sympathy which will naturally flow to the gullible public! In any
case how would you know that this chap was a refugee from the boat? Then
you spoke to a chap in America and one in Rumania, you wouldnt know who
you were speaking to, couldnt it be a well orchestrated scenario to
spellbind you? This man is incapable of creating this atmosphere, it is
those who arranged this meeting directed the scenario, knowing you would
not least suspect their cunning scheme, and hence your well concocted sob
story would go to air, so that they could pressure the government of the
day to allow them to be settled in Australia. Perhaps this documentary
will qualify you to receive the famous Walkley Award for media journalism
in Australia. Is that why you made this intriguing? (LankaWeb
: 20 Aug 2010).

Sri Lanka Ambassador in
U.S. refutes AmnestyInternational Claims - STATEMENT FROM SRI LANKAS
AMBASSADOR TO THE USA WASHINGTON, Aug. 19, 2010
 On Aug. 9, 2010 the Washington Post published a letter from James
McDonald of Amnesty International suggesting that a shipload of Sri
Lankans arriving illegally in Canada should be given asylum because they
faced persecution if they returned to Sri Lanka. I am compelled to respond
to this letter because Mr. McDonald misstates so many facts and makes so
many blind allegations that he must be corrected. First, Mr. McDonald
states that during Sri Lankas civil war, both the government and
Tigers committed human rights abuses including war crimes. Sri Lankas
long fight against a terrorist army, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam,
was not a civil war. Thats a convenient Western characterization. The
LTTE ruthlessly took over parts of Sri Lanka and killed any person 
many of them Tamil  who stood in their way. Secondly, it is outrageous
to suggest that the government of Sri Lanka committed human rights abuses
and war crimes as it defeated the LTTE in May 2009. In fact, the
government rescued nearly 300,000 people who were held hostage as human
shields by the LTTE. Furthermore, Sri Lankan forces are trained in human
rights. Mr. McDonald of course cites no evidence for his allegations; in
fact there is none. Sri Lanka has established a Lessons Learned and
Reconciliation Commission to examine the most intense years of the
conflict (LankaWeb
; 21 Aug 2010).

Move to shift LTTE base
to Canada prompted by KPs arrest - A top LTTE
operative, deeply involved in the LTTE arms smuggling operations
throughout the war, is believed to have taken MV Sun Sea from
Thailand to Canada. The voyage took three months while several navies in
the region watched allowing the 59-metre vessel, modified for the purpose,
make its way to Canadian waters. Military sources identified the
LTTEer as Vinod, widely considered to be among an elite group of cadres
responsible for perhaps one of the biggest clandestine arms smuggling
operations in the past few decades. Sources say Vinod and two of his
colleagues, identified as Kamal and Gaya, played a pivotal role in the
arms smuggling operation, which facilitated transfer of weapons of Chinese
origin and other armaments to north-east Sri Lanka. The infamous
North Korean route remained a key mode of clandestine movement before the
Sri Lanka navy took the war to the high seas during Eelam War IV.
While Gaya is believed to have been killed in a confrontation with the
navy on the high seas, Kamal is now in Canada. Sources say Kamal,
one of the most experienced LTTE operatives involved with arms smuggling
operations took MV Ocean Lady from Mundra (an Indian port) to Canada last
October. MV Ocean Lady carried 76 persons. Canada declined to give
Sri Lanka access to any of the 76 passengers. Harin Panich 19,
now renamed the MV Sun Sea carried 492 Sri Lankan Tamils to Canada.
Sources say Canada is yet to share information regarding the illegal
immigrants with Sri Lankan intelligence services, though there is
irrefutable evidence of LTTE involvement in the operation. Although
ordinary LTTE fighting cadres are unlikely to be among the passengers of
MV Sun Sea, there can be some key LTTE intelligence operatives, including
some of those who escaped from military detention after the end of war in
May last year. Responding to a query by The Island, an authoritative
official said that the vast majority of passengers could be those who had
supported the LTTE over the years. Theyre not ordinary fighting
cadres, but the elite, who spearheaded operations in South East
Asia," he said (Island
: 20 Aug 2010).

KP s Plan to save Prabha
& Family backfired - For the first time
Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP has explained to the Norwegian LTTE web site
that the plan he made to save Prabhakaran, his wife Madhiwadani, daughter
Dwaraka and youngest son Balachandran was thwarted by Norway Tiger leader
Nediyawan and his stooges. He has also said that Prabhakarans son
Charles Anthony rang him up and said Uncle KP the situation is very
dangerous. Please save our group. He also said that his plan to send a
Tiger air craft to Wanni and take Prabhakaran and his family to a Tiger
ship could not be carried out because Nediyawan did not support it. KP
also revealed that another plan was also under way to get a cease-fire
imposed and get Prabhakaran and his team out of Wanni. For which America
was willing to help (Sri
Lanka Watch : 20 Aug 2010).

Service commanders
expressed concern about CFA - Former Defence Secretary -
Former Defence Secretary Austin Fernando said Wednesday that he got to
know about the CFA from the service commanders who had expressed concern
about some of its conditions.However the powers that be brushed aside
these concerns. Testifying Wednesday before the Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission headed by former Attorney General C.R.De Silva
he however said that the UNP Government was compelled to enter into a CFA
with the LTTE due to the perilous economic situation of the country at the
time. Asked as Defence Secretary if he had been satisfied with the CFA
Fernando said that he too had been perturbed by certain of the provisions
in it. He also said he would not say whether the CFA was fully favourable
to the LTTE for if that was so the Government would not have participated
in peace talks.The former Defence Secretary said CFA was to a certain
extent favourable to the LTTE due to certain clauses in it. While saying
that he had not been involved in the drafting of the CFA the former
Defence Secretary said the LTTE would have not come for talks had the CFA
favoured the Government. He said lack of proper interpretation of
certain terms in the CFA provided leeway for the LTTE to commit certain
acts which had a negative impact. He said political jealousy on the part
of then President Chandrika Kumaratunga was one of the key elements for
the failure of the CFA. He admitted though that the CFA to a certain
extent was favourable to the LTTE. He also attacked Peace facilitator
Norway and the SLMM for their failure to ensure the proper implementation
of the CFA. He said both facilitator and monitor had failed to take any
action leading to the undermining of the peace process. The former Defence
Secretary also said the bid by LTTE political wing leader S.P.
Thamilselvan to use Karuna as a mole failed completely after the latter
decided that Prabhakaran was waging a useless war (Daily
News : 20 Aug 2010).

Canada
probes who paid for Tamil refugees' travel

Captain of Sun Sea has
links to Tigers: Newspaper - Although Canadian
authorities are concerned some of the recently arrived migrants might be
members of the Tamil Tigers, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada, Ottawa
has been tight-lipped about any evidence it might have for this
claim. Nor have this week's detention hearings shed any light on
whether the MV Sun Sea was a human-smuggling ship or whether any Tamil
Tigers were aboard. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has said the
Thai cargo ship was part of a "broader criminal enterprise" and
a "test boat" intended to gauge Ottawa's attitude toward
refugees arriving by ship. Prime Minister Stephen Harper echoed
those words Tuesday by stating that Ottawa "will not hesitate to
strengthen the laws" in order to tackle the "trend" of
would-be refugees arriving via human-smuggling ships. A more
forthcoming source has been the Malay Mail newspaper, which reported this
week that the commander of the Sun Sea is a man known as Capt. Vinod, who
studied at the Malaysian Maritime Academy in Malacca during its early
days. While in Malaysia, Vinod stayed in close contact with local
financiers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or Tamil
Tigers, Singapore-based terrorism expert Prof. Rohan Gunaratna told the
newspaper. He said Vinod had from the 1990s to 2009 worked with
another Tamil Tiger cadre, Capt. Kamalraj Kandasamy, alias Capt. Kamal, to
ship several tons of arms, ammunition and explosives from North Korea to
Sri Lanka for the outlawed group to wage and sustain its terrorist
campaign. Gunaratna told the paper that Kamal skippered the first
Tamil refugee ship, Ocean Lady, which arrived in Canada last
October. He added that while Kamal captained Ocean Lady, Vinod
stayed in Thailand to buy the Sun Sea from a Thai company, on behalf of
LTTE, to take advantage of Canada's weak response to the Ocean Lady (The
Province : 19 Aug 2010).

Tamil illegal migrants
test limits of legal aid system Posted on August 19th, 2010 -
By Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - The Editor (Letters); THE OTTAWA CITIZEN;
Sir: Tamil migrants test limits of legal aid system be mourns the
Executive Director of B.C.s Legal Services Society. This is not the
only sin that the 492 illegal Tamil migrants on MV Sun Sea have committed.
The most criminal sin is allowing the global criminal human-trafficking
network to take advantage of Canadas generosity. If these 492 illegal
Tamil migrants say that they are indeed not millionaires in Sri Lanka to
pay $45,000 to get a ride on that ship to Canada, then lets find out who
funded them and choke them before they try this harrowing trick one more
time bringing in another boat load of illegal Tamil migrants to Canada.
Lets get the RCMP on the money trail and for starters they should
interrogate the Canadian Tamil Congress and the Tamil lawyers who had been
tracking the progress of Sun Sea and flew into Victoria to welcome these
migrants and defend their fairy tales of being persecuted when over a
million Tamils have decided to stay put in Sri Lanka and live happily ever
after with the majority Sinhalese and some marrying them. It is important
to note that 10 members of their Tamil community are representing them in
parliament and in cabinet holding important portfolios like, Junior
Minister of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation. Let make an
effort to find these culprits and choke them legally (LankaWeb
: 19 Aug 2010).

More military items
uncovered in clearing operations - Sri Lanka
Army troops and De-mining groups continued clearing and de-mining
operations have uncovered more LTTE military hardware hidden in
Vavuniya,Mannar and Batticaloa districts yesterday (18 August), military
sources said. Troops of 56 Division, while conducting a search and clear
operation in general area Periyamadu in Vavuniya district recovered 640 x
ammunitions (7.62 x 39 caliber). Same troops recovered following military
items during clearing operations conducted at general areas Mahilankulam
and Maruthankulam (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 19 Aug 2010).

Majority of Sri Lankan
Tamil refugees reluctant to go back - A
majority of the Sri Lankan Tamil refugees, who have been in India for a
decade or more, are reluctant to go back to their nation, according to M.
Mutia Kalaivanan, Director of Rehabilitation. Talking to The Hindu here on
Wednesday on the sidelines of a national seminar on Refugee situation
in India today,' he said that many of the refugees had become part of the
local community and some even married locals. They had taken up jobs as
masons or carpenters. The government was providing them all facilities
available to voters in the State, including subsidised rice and other
material. Even free television sets were given to them (20,039 sets have
already been distributed). As many as 52,373 individual identity cards had
been issued to refugees aged above 12 years to ensure their welfare and
security. Enrolment of refugees in schools and colleges had gone up
compared to the previous year. In 2008-09, the total number of students
enrolled in schools and colleges was 21,023. In 2009-10, this rose to
21,742. But the nursery level enrolment dropped from 3452 (2008-09) to
3076 in 2009-10. A Rs.55-crore housing scheme would be implemented for
their benefit. The Rural Development Department would be in charge of the
scheme. Land identification process was on. Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi
had written to the Centre asking it to consider conferring citizenship on
refugees who had lived here for long
(Hindu : 19 Aug 2010).

Canada takes a tough
position against Tamil asylum seekers - Agency
Reports state that the Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has taken a
tough position about the group of 492 Tamil Asylum seekers who arrived in
Vancouver last week, jammed in the cargo vessel MV Sun Sea. He has blamed
on the increasing human smuggling for financial gain and has said that the
authorities will screen each of the 492 asylum seekers individusally. He
has told reporters, Its a fundamental exercise of sovereignty and were
responsible for the security of our borders and the ability to welcome
people or not welcome people when they come, The Tamil migrants reached
Canada last Friday after a 90-day journey aboard the MV Sun Sea, a shabby
cargo ship. A male migrant died at sea from an undisclosed illness. The
passengers are reported to have paid up to 50,000 Canadian dollars for the
trip. Officials of the Canada Border Services have said all 380 men and 63
women are detained, and 49 children are either with their families or in
the care of local social services. There are some 200,000 Tamils living in
Toronto, Canadas most populous city, which is the home to the worlds
largest Tamil diaspora. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka has urged Canada to share
more of its intelligence if it is serious about tackling what both
countries have warned could be a human smuggling operation with ties to
the LTTE. Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Canada Mrs. Chitranganee
Wagiswara has said that there have been unofficial discussions with
Canadian authorities in recent weeks on the subject, but that more could
be done between the two countries, and exchange of information and
intelligence could be key
(Media Centre for National security: 19 Aug 2010).

Six LTTE sympathizers
convicted in India - The assistant sessions
court in Tambaram on Tuesday (17) convicted six LTTE sympathizers and
sentenced them to a years imprisonment in a case registered against
them by the Q Branch police in 2007. Q Branch personnel arrested five
persons thought to be LTTE sympathizers, Thambianna, Senjames, Jayakumar,
Pushpadanraj, Bominathan and Ravikumar, for allegedly trying to smuggle a
boat to be sent to Sri Lanka to be used by members of the LTTE. Q Branch
officials alleged that the accused connived and purchased a boat from the
south of Tamil Nadu and were trying to send it to Sri Lanka from Ramnad.
Police said Senjames and the others purchased the boat on the direction of
Thambianna. Police arrested them from Chennai in 2007 and had seized R.
4.5 lakhs from them. Assistant sessions court judge Sivakumar held that
all six accused were guilty and sentence was passed (Daily
Mirror ; 19 Aug 2010).

Tamil polity should drop
'liberation' & focus on economic prosperity - The Hindu review -
"Tamil polity should drop 'liberation' to focus on securing economic
rights for the people", states Indian journalist Nirupama Subramanian
reviewing a book in The Hindu on 17th August. Nirupama Subramanian was
reviewing the book 'From Winning the War to Winning Peace', edited by V.
R. Raghavan and published by Centre for Security Analysis in Chennai.
Nodding Nirupama Subramanian's opinion, Tamil intellect circles points out
that "the development Tamil politicos meant was not even real adding
that the mistakes made have resulted in distancing prosperity in the North
and East. Reviewing the book, Nirupama wrote, "President Rajapaksa
appears more focused, at the moment, on economic development, including
that of the Tamil-dominated North and East regions, prompting the view
that he is chasing Sri Lanka's long cherished "Singaporemodel"
dream - one in which the country's development and prosperity, rather than
sweeping constitutional reform, will be the key to co-existence and
reconciliation between ethnic communities". In her review, Nirupama
was favourably highlighting a paper by a development economist,
Muttukrishnan Sarvananthan: "Unlike other Tamil academics, he places
the responsibility for the economic rebirth of the North and the East
squarely on Tamil politicians, whose leadership he blames for having been
obsessed with language, land, and political rights, to the exclusion of
economic rights," Nirupama reviewed (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 19 Aug 2010).

Canada will not hesitate
to change asylum laws - Ottawa will not
hesitate to strengthen the laws in order to tackle the trend of
would-be refugees arriving in Canada via people-smuggling ships, Prime
Minister Stephen Harper said Tuesday Let me be clear. We are a land of
refuge, but at the same time, I think Canadians are pretty concerned when
a whole boat of people come  not through any normal application
process, not through any normal arrival channel  and just simply land,
Harper said at an event in Mississauga, Ont. We will not hesitate to
strengthen the laws if we have to, because ultimately  as a government,
as a fundamental exercise of our sovereignty  we are responsible for
the security of our borders. It was the first time the prime minister
has spoken on the issue of human-smuggling and seaborne asylum-seekers
since their arrival in British Columbia last week of the Sun Sea  a
modified cargo ship that carried 492 Tamils from Sri Lanka who are seeking
refugee status in Canada. Federal authorities are concerned that some of
the migrants might be members of the LTTE, a terrorist group outlawed in
Canada. The possible connection of the cargo ship to organized crime is
also under investigation. Passengers reportedly paid between $40,000 to
$50,000 each to make the three-and-a-half month journey from Thailand.
Meanwhile, the first migrants to appear before immigration authorities in
Vancouver were ordered to remain in detention until the government
confirms they are who they say they are. Preliminary interviews with
members of the group began Monday. The adults must also be fingerprinted
and any identification documents they came with catalogued and examined
for authenticity. One woman arrived in Canada with an original copy of her
national identity card and a birth certificate. Her father, mother and
brother were also on-board the ship. She was ushered into Tuesdays
proceedings in handcuffs. Dressed in a dark green sweatshirt and dark
pants, her hair pulled into a ponytail, the woman said little as lawyers
discussed her case with Immigration and Refugee Board adjudicator Leeann
King, who ultimately denied her release (Daily
Mirror : 19 Aug 2010).

During humanitarian
operation: CCHA played major role - Defence Secretary -
Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa testifying before the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission Tuesday said since the beginning of the
humanitarian operation the Government had a plan on humanitarian
assistance and protection that ran parallel to its military push. Over
the years we had a practice of naming operations with various titles. But
under the Presidents advice we called it the Humanitarian Operation.
Some might think its a minor incident, but its an important fact, he
added. The President said we have to include the concept of zero
civilian casualties. All possible steps must be taken to avoid civilian
casualty and we laid our plans accordingly, he observed. He noted
that the Consultative Commission on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA)
initiated according to a concept by the President following a meeting with
the Co-Chairs had played a major role in defining the contours of the kind
of assistance needed and related decision making as it brought all major
stakeholders, both the Government and non-Government Sector under one
roof. Since October 14, 2006 meetings were held on a regular basis
chaired by Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and attended by the Defence
Secretary, Essential Services Commissioner, representatives from Foreign
Affairs and all the heads of UN agencies in Sri Lanka, Head of the
Delegation of the European Commission and Ambassadors etc. The committee
had discussed matters relating to humanitarian assistance, access and the
mandate of the agencies (Daily
News : 19 Aug 2010).

Canada
will not hesitate to change asylum laws

Your Sunday Star
Editorial: Sri Lankas telling exodus - by
Martin Walker, P.Eng (Ontario) Thornhill, ON Canada - Re: Your Editorial:
Sri Lankas telling exodus  Sunday Star, Aug 15, 2010; Dear
Editor, It is with great interest I read your coverage of the newest
arrival of the Tamil migrant ship, for the past few days. Your editorial
above clearly shows that the Toronto Star has gone to great lengths to
justify the flight of these boat people, while ignoring a very important
matter that majority of us Canadians, are concerned about  the
international human smuggling operation by the Tamil Tigers, and potential
security threat to Canada, and to the Sri Lankan-Canadians. What Sri Lanka
has (or had..), was not a Tamil problem, but a genuine terrorist problem
created by the Tamil Tigers. On the other hand, Canada definitely has a
Tamil problem - in spite of your denial - when thousands of Tamils are
parading the street of Toronto, carrying the flags of a vicious terrorist
group that banned in Canada and else where, while blocking busy Gardener
Express Way using small children and women. As an Anglo-Canadian married
to a Sri Lankan-Canadian, I have a very good understanding of the Sri
Lankan conflict. Besides, I had the privilege of spending past four years
in Sri Lanka, as a senior engineer/consultant for a development project,
funded by the Asian Development Bank(ADB). During that period, I also had
the unenviable opportunity of witnessing some of the unspeakable human
horrors of terrorism, such as blowing up innocent Tamils, Sinhalese, and
Muslims, by the LTTE suicide bombers at railway stations, on busy streets
in Colombo, and at various army checkpoints in many part of this beautiful
island, killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children (LankaWeb
: 18 Aug 2010).

Tigers targeted CCHA to
thwart relief operations - Former Human Rights
and Disaster Management Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe says the
international community had an opportunity to maintain a regular dialogue
with the government and the top military leadership through the
Consultative Committee on Humanitarian Assistance (CCHA) during the eelam
war IV. In a brief interview with The Island in the wake of Defence
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksas presentation to Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission on Tuesday, Minister Samarasinghe said that
President Mahinda Rajapaksa had appointed the CCHA in response to concerns
raised by a section of the international community, particularly Co-chairs
of the Sri Lankan peace process, namely the US, EU, Japan and
Norway. Samarasinghe headed CCHA throughout the military campaign
until the army finished off the LTTE on the banks of the Nanthikadal
lagoon in May 2009. Beginning October 14, 2006, CCHA met every month even
at the height of the Vanni war. Defence Secretary Rajapaksa,
Minister Basil Rajapaksa and Commissioner General of Essential Services
represented the government while the then US Ambassador in Colombo Robert
Blake represented the Co-chairs. The CCHA also accommodated Japanese and
EU Ambassadors and UN Resident Coordinator, the ICRC and heads of all UN
agencies active in Sri Lanka to make sure they had a forum to raise any
humanitarian issue (Island
: 18 Aug 2010).

The struggle for survival
of a sovereign, unitary and independent nation -
By Lt Col (Retd) Anil Amarasekera - At one point of time the country now
identified as Sri Lanka was known as Heladiva or Sivhela as there were
four clans living in this country. They were the Devas, the Yakkas, the
Rakshas and the Nagas. Prince Vijaya and his Sinha clan that migrated to
this country from north India integrated with the above mentioned four
indigenous Hela clans and were together identified henceforth as Sinhalese
and their country was known as Sinhale. It was later subdivided to Ruhunu,
Pehiti and Maya, which together were referred to as Thunsinhale. The
integration practiced by western nations when they migrated and settled in
America and Australia and integrated with the Red Indians and the
Aborigines respectively to form the American nation and the Australian
nation was practiced in the nation of Sinhale over 2500 years ago (LankaWeb
: 18 Aug 2010).

Canadas Prime Minister
talks tough on the Tamil illegal migrants - By
Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - Prime Minister Stephen Harper said at a
Mississauga event on Tuesday,The federal government will not hesitate
to strengthen the laws in order to tackle the trend of would be
refugees arriving in Canada via people-smuggling ships. Sorry Mr.
Prime Minister, now that we have lost the grip on the refugee
determination system, what I had expected you to say was, The federal
government will strengthen the laws to tackle the trend of would be
refugees arriving in Canada in human-smugglers boats. Let us not be
iffy about our decision. Let us be strong and decisive. I hope the
Prime Minister, the Parliamentarians and the whole of Canada who blasted
Sri Lanka for taking 11 months to process 260,000 of the 300,000 Tamils
who were kept in welfare village camps last year after having been
liberated from the clutches of the Tamil Tigers who hoarded them as human
shields, took notice that Canada took three months to process the 76
Tamils who arrived on Ocean Lady last October, and now reckon that it will
take about six months to process the 492 Tamils who arrived on Sun
Sea. Little wonder why puny Sri Lanka who came out of a nasty
27-year war which saw over 100,000 dead told Canada when we were bashing
her to let go of the Tamils immediately, to go to the prairies and fly a
kite where the sky is bigger than the land. That is how unfair and
perverse we Canadians were towards Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka had a
problem. They had to guard its sovereignty and sieve out the terrorists
from the innocent civilians, and register them , and clear the million
land mines that were planted by the Tamil Tigers who were running for
their lives, and reconstruct and build new home for the Tamils to go to
and reconstruct the infrastructures which had been destroyed by the war.
That was sensible. That was an intelligent thing to do and not cave into
the call of stupidity of the bleeding hearts of Canada and those around
the world (LankaWeb
: 18 Aug 2010).

Medawachchiya-Talaimannar
railwayline construction agreement signed - The
Medawatchchiya Talaimannar railway line construction Agreement was
signed at the Transport Ministrys auditorium on Tuesday. Transport
Minister Kumara Welgama on Tuesday said that the construction of
Medawachchiya Thalaimannar railway line commenced on August 17 and the
first phase would cost Rs. 7,350 million (US $ 81.3 million). It would be
110 km in length and six bridges would also be built. The government
expected to complete the first phase at the end of 2011 and the second
phase would cost Rs. 17,220 million (US $ 149.7 million), he said.
Minister Welgama said that several development projects related to the
railway were being implemented in the North and the South. The
construction of MataraKataragama railway line too, was progressing up
to Beliatta. The MataraColombo railway line renovation too had
commenced. All trains operating in the coastal line would also be
refurbished to cater to the needs of the large number of public servants,
the minister said. He pointed out that as the speed limits of coastal
train services were low, CGR engineers would take action to raise the
speed limits. Minister Welgama assured that the government was making
every effort to improve the transport services to provide better service
for people. All construction work undertaken by the Indian and Sri Lankan
companies would be completed as scheduled, he said. Railway line from
Medawachchiya to Talaimannar will be constructed by the Indian Earcorn
International Company (Island
; 18 Aug 2010).

Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission Now ex-Defence Secy slams CFA - Former
Defence Secretary Austin Fernando claims there had not been proper
consultations with the military before the then Premier Ranil
Wickremesinghes government signed the CFA with the LTTE. Testifying
before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission headed by former
Attorney General C. R. de Silva, Fernando said that he had had absolutely
no authority to intervene though the CFA extensively dealt with national
security issues. A mere Secretary could not interfere when government took
decisions, he said. Responding to a query by the commission, former
Defence Secretary Fernando said that he had not been involved in preparing
the CFA. Asked whether he as the Defence Secretary had been satisfied with
the CFA, former Defence Secretary said that he got to know about the CFA
through the then Army and Navy Commanders. Acknowledging that the service
commanders had been troubled by the CFA and some its conditions relating
to security, Fernando said he had discussed the issue with Ministers Tilak
Marapone and Professor G. L. Peiris. Although the military had expressed
serious concerns, those in power had turned a blind eye to them thus
allowing the Norwegians to finalise the CFA. Asked whether he as the
Defence Secretary had been aware that the Norwegians drafted the CFA in
consultation with the LTTE making it favourable to the LTTE, Fernando
admitted that haphazard and hasty vacation of government buildings and
private property occupied by the military particularly in the Jaffna
peninsula had been detrimental to national security. When Fernando said
that he had not been involved in drafting the CFA, Chairman of the
commission de Silva shot back saying no Sri Lankan was involved in the
process. Fernando said that the LTTE would not have come for talks had the
CFA favoured the government (Island
; 18 Aug 2010).

Gota before Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Top ground commanders to speak on Final
Battle - Senior armed forces officers
involved in air-sea-land operations in Eelam War IV will appear before the
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission shortly. Chief of
Defence Staff SLAF Commander Air Marshal Roshan Goonetilike, Navy
Commander Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, Army Chief Jagath Jayasuriya,
Major General Kamal Gunaratne and Major General Shavindra Silva are
expected to testify before the commission headed by former Attorney
General C. R. de Silva. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on
Tuesday (Aug. 17) told the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission
that the military could clarify the ground situation leading to the
conclusion of the war in May last year. Majors General Gunaratne and
Silva spearheaded the 53 and 58 Divisions during the final phase of the
offensive leading to the killing of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran on
the banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon. They will respond to war crimes
allegations propagated by a section of the international community on the
basis of former Army Chief General Sarath Fonsekas pre-presidential
election claim that Defence Secretary Rajapaksa had ordered the then
General Officer Commanding (GOC) 58 Division Major General Silva not to
take prisoners. Asked by C. R. de Silva at the outset of the
sittings whether the Defence Secretary would like to testify in camera, a
smiling Rajapaksa said that he didnt have anything to hide. Defence
Secretary Rajapaksa said that Prabhakaran had made a desperate attempt to
breach the army frontlines on the Vanni east front to take refuge in the
jungles. Responding to queries by the commission, Defence Secretary
Rajapaksa said that since the liberation of Kilinochchi in January 2009,
the LTTE had gradually retreated towards the north-eastern coast taking
the civilian population at gun point. The Gajaba veteran said that the
LTTE went to the extent of carrying out a suicide attack on civilians
seeking refuge in the government-held area east of the Kandy-Jaffna A9
road. Responding to criticism of indiscriminate offensive action on
the Vanni east front, Defence Secretary Rajapaksa said that the armed
forces had carefully studied targets before neutralising them. He cited
the successful air strike on LTTE Political Wing leader S. P. Thamilselvan
as an example of accuracy of real time intelligence and direct hit
on the target (Island
; 18 Aug 2010).

No fresh military set up
in resettled areas  Gotabhaya - Asserting
that the presence of the military would be maintained to a certain extent
as a precautionary measure, Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said
yesterday that no fresh military settlements or establishments would be
set up in the resettled areas of the North. Speaking before the Lessons
Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) yesterday, Mr. Rajapaksa said
that the presence of the military would be maintained as a measure to curb
the possibility of the LTTE re-grouping once again. The international
network of the LTTE is still intact. Therefore, we will be taking the
necessary security measures so as not to provide room for the LTTE to
re-group once more, he said. However, he also said plans were being
made to gradually reduce the military presence in the North and hand over
the responsibility for maintaining law and order to the Police. The
first batch of 500 policemen is being currently trained to be deployed to
the police stations that are due to be established in the North, he
said. Moreover, he added, that the policemen deployed in the police
stations that would be established in the North would be trained in Tamil
so that the language barrier would be overcome. We are currently on the
process of surveying the land in the Jaffna peninsula. We will be making
use of the land which was used by the LTTE to set up the military
establishments, Mr. Rajapaksa said. Expressing his opinion regarding
the accusations by the international community regarding war crimes Mr.
Rajapaksa said that, during the military action, they adopted a zero
civilian casualties policy and that the safety and welfare of the
civilians were always given priority. The military risked being
attacked by the LTTE when they halted their operations to provide safe
passage for the food convoys which transported provisions and medical
supplies for the civilians residing in areas controlled by the LTTE. But
we still took these steps to continue those operations to ensure the
welfare of the civilians, he added (Daily
Mirror : 18 Aug 2010).

Jaffna peninsula
security: Govt to return civilian land Police to take over security:
Essential Security Forces to remain: The
civilian lands acquired for security purposes in the Jaffna peninsula
would be reduced and would be given to owners while others whose lands
have to be kept to maintain certain essential security establishments
would be provided either compensation or alternative land, Defence
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa said testifying before the Lessons Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission yesterday. He said that the Government aims
for a gradual reduction of its military presence in the former conflict
affected North to be replaced by the Police. However a certain amount of
military presence in the area would be required, specially naval
deployment, he added. The Defence Secretary also said that in the Vanni
region all civilian land had been released and the Security Forces had
redeployed certain military establishment. The Government property
occupied by the military too have been released to relevant local civilian
administrative authorities, he added. Commenting on increasing the Police
presence Secretary Rajapaksa noted that the Government had taken steps to
recruit 500 new personnel from the North who were now undergoing training
at the Kalutara Police Training School. In addition to increased
recruitment Police personnel in the area are being provided with training
in spoken Tamil, he added. Giving a lengthy statement before the
commission the Defence Secretary stated that most people today had
forgotten that the Government had defeated the most ruthless terrorist
organization ever (Daily
News ; 18 Aug 2010).

We
always considered the battle as a humanitarian operation, says Defence
Secretary

LTTE medical cadres
trained at Jaffna University - Defence Secretary
Gotabhaya Rajapaksa told the Lessons Learnt Commission that the LTTE had
used the Jaffna University Medical Faculty to train some its cadres to
treat the war wounded. He said that he had got the opportunity to meet
three LTTE doctors now undergoing rehabilitation at Senapura
rehabilitation centre. According to him, as Sinhala and Muslim medical
students had not been willing to join the Jaffna medical faculty due to
terrorism, the LTTE had made use of some of those slots to have its cadres
trained (Island
: 17 Aug 2010).

We always considered the
battle as a humanitarian operation, says Defence Secretary -
Though most critics talked about the war in Sri Lanka no one spoke of the
hardships the armed forces had to undergo to defeat the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), said Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa during
his submissions to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee
(LL&RC) in Colombo today. The government had to study the
strengths and weaknesses of the LTTE prior to engaging them. The President
always maintained that the armed forces should consider the final battle
against the Tigers as only a humanitarian operation and not as an all out
war, the Defence Secretary further added during the fourth day of the
LL&RC session. Suicide missions were introduced to the world by
the West Asian terrorist groups. But the LTTE was the outfit that
introduced suicide carders as human bombs, said Mr. Rajapaksa. The Tiger
outfit grew to its strongest position somewhere in 2005. There are
video and other visual evidence of the atrocities against civilians which
could be shown, he added. But today areas like Kilinochchi are
returning to normal. They are calm and most of the displaced have been
resettled and development is proceeding apace, Gotabhaya Rajapaksa
said. Some criticize the government over certain detained Tiger
leaders. Top rung LTTE leader like Kumaran Pathmanadan or KP was arrested
in Malaysia and brought into the country. Likewise Karuna, Pillayan
and persons like them though members of the LTTE had later helped the
Security Forces to fight the Tiger terrorists. They helped us to eradicate
terror from the island, said Mr. Rajapaksa. Making special mention
on the medical capabilities of the Tiger cadres, Mr. Gotabhaya said the
Northern youth had availed themselves of the university facilities to
further their studies and most of those medical students had assisted the
LTTE in its medical care of the injured cadres. One time
Parliamentarian and former Sri Lankan High Commissioner in the UK and
India Mangala Moonesinghe and Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa made
submissions before the LL&RC in Colombo today
(Daily News : 17 Aug 2010).

Egg a day to Jaffna
children - A project to ensure at least an egg
to a child of families in Jaffna affected by malnutrition will be
implemented, Kumudu Wadugedara of the Civil Affairs and Public Relations
office of the Jaffna peninsula said yesterday. He said malnutrition
among the students in the peninsula is acute. He added that the Government
has given complete access to the people in the Peninsula to have contact
with the outside world. State and private telecom companies are operating
in the Jaffna district. The Sri Lanka Telecom has provided more than
27,000 land connections and 150,000 mobile connections to customers in the
Jaffna district. Waduge was of the opinion that the agriculture
sector in the peninsula will see an unprecedented development in the
coming years with the removal of the ban on fertilizers. He said the
buffer zone has been cleared of mines to enable early resettlement.
According to Wadugedara, Security Forces in the Jaffna peninsular have
taken an enormous effort to ensure their early resettlement. The
buffer zone which was heavily dotted with landmines and booby traps have
been cleared by the Army. He said the Security Forces have initiated a
number of measures to uplift the living standards of the people and a
backyard poultry project is in progress to eradicate malnutrition among
the children in the peninsula. He is of the opinion that the
reintegration of ex LTTE combatants to society following rehabilitation is
continuing and the rehabilitation drive will end by end of this year. Over
132 out of 213 ex-male LTTE cadres underwent extensive rehabilitation and
they were released to their parents while 49 out of 67 ex-female
combatants were also released by the Security Forces after rehabilitation.
He is hopeful that those remaining would be rehabilitated and handed over
to their parents by the end of the year (Daily
News ; 17 Aug 2010).

Canada probes who paid
for Tamil refugees' travel - OTTAWA  Canadian
authorities are investigating if Sri Lankan rebels financed the passage of
some 500 Tamil refugees to Canada last week, officials said Monday before
the start of detention hearings. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews,
speaking to The Globe and Mail daily in an article Monday, said passengers
were charged up to 50,000 Canadian dollars (48,000 US dollars) for travel
aboard the cargo ship MV Sun Sea. Members of Canada's 300,000 Tamil
community may have helped fund their passage and the outlawed Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels -- regarded by Canada as a terrorist
group -- could have financed it, he said. "Obviously (the Royal
Canadian Mounted Police) will follow every connection between the payment
of money and those who received it," Toews told The Globe and Mail.
RCMP Constable Michael McLaughlin told AFP: "We're investigating a
variety of offenses. "The human smuggling aspect is an obvious avenue
that we have to pursue. Financing would be a sidebar of this
investigation," he explained. Toews' spokesman Christopher McCluskey
commented: "Human smuggling is a despicable crime and any attempts to
abuse Canada's generosity for financial gain are utterly
unacceptable." All those aboard the MV Sun Sea had claimed for asylum
since arriving in westernmost Canada on Friday, Toews also said. Hearings
to decide whether the Tamils will be detained or released pending their
eventual asylum decision will be held later Monday. The Immigration and
Refugee Board must then decide whether to allow the refugee claimants to
remain in Canada or to order their deportation. The process could take
several years. On Saturday, Canadian authorities said the estimated 490
migrants were in good condition, despite a three-month journey aboard the
rusty 59-meter (194-foot) Thai-registered ship. Canadian Tamils have urged
their adopted country to accept the asylum seekers, saying that the
minority group faces continued difficulties in Sinhalese-majority Sri
Lanka. Sri Lanka's government has described the ship as a people-smuggling
operation by the defeated Tamil Tigers. Sri Lanka government forces last
year ended decades of civil war by crushing the rebels in a bloody finale
in which the United Nations says at least 7,000 civilians were killed.
Despite concerns about Sri Lanka's human rights record, Western nations
ban the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization. The group was known for
suicide bombings and use of child soldiers during its nearly four-decade
fight for a separate Tamil homeland (Yahoo
/ AFP).

Northerners to benefit
from fruit cultivation - The Government will use
400 acres of fertile land formerly occupied by the LTTE for cashew nut and
other fruit cultivation in the Manthai Divisional Secretariat area in
Mannar. More than 1,500 persons will get employment opportunities.
Northern Province Governor Major General G A Chandrasiri said the 400
acres of land liberated from the LTTE in Wellankulam are fertile and very
much suitable for plantation. The LTTE cadres used these lands for growing
cashew nut, mango, orange and lemon. Around 14,000 cashew nut trees
were found in the grove. The NPC has planned to develop cashew in the area,
Chandrasiri told the Daily News. He said Industrial Development and
Commerce Minister Rishad Bathiyudeen had visited the area last week and
decided to provide assistance to develop the cashew cultivation in the
Wellankulam area. Chandrasiri noted that Minister Bathiyudeen will take
the matter over to the Export Development Board to provide assistance to
implement the project. He also said this project will provide more than
1,500 job opportunity for the resettled people in the area. It will help
to lift their livelihood and also provide them with self employment. The
resettled people are in the urgent need of finding jobs and develop their
livelihood, he added (Daily
News : 17 Aug 2010).

Canada to choke off Tamil
diaspora, LTTE financial connections - The
Canadian Government has indicated financial links between the country's
Tamil diaspora and the alleged human traffickers (LTTE) who helped the
Tamil illegals in sailing through the waters to enter the country, and
would reportedly choke off any such connection if proven guilty. The Globe
and Mail News quoted Public Safety Minister Vic Toews as saying that the
organizers of the voyage of the MV Sun Sea, which reached Canadian waters
on Friday with 490 men, women and children on board, charged up to 50,000
dollars a passenger, a potential total haul of more than 20-million
dollars. Questions have been raised inside the Harper government as to
whether Canadian residents helped pay the amount to the organisers. Toews
said he is worried by reports from his officials that the journey could
have been organized by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
"It is a criminal offence to give money to a banned terrorist
organization or to participate in human smuggling," Toews added. On
Sunday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has confirmed that its
investigation of the Sun Sea could include human smuggling. The Harper
government has also expressed its satisfaction with the way its officials
handled the boat 'MV Sun Sea', and said that the RCMP would be allowed to
prosecute any organizers on board (Sify
News : 17 Aug 2010).

KP
reveals; 'I made several attempts to rescue Prabhakaran'

'I made
several attempts to rescue Prabhakaran' - LTTEs
ace arms smuggler Kumaran Pathmanathan alias KP had made several attempts
to rescue Tiger chieftain Velupillai Prabhakaran during the last bitter
phase of Eelam War IV in 2009. But all of them failed. KP, who is now
under detention in Sri Lanka, told Daily Mirror that at first he lobbied
hard to get the international community to save at least the innocent
Tamil civilians who were caught in the fighting. The US had even offered
to send ships to ferry the 280,000 Tamil civilians caught in the fighting
to safety in Trincomalee. But the plan to save the civilians was not
accepted by Prabhakaran for understandable reasons, KP said. The LTTE
leadership had no choice. If they released the people first, then only the
Tigers would be left there. Thereafter, all of them could have been wiped
out, he said. KP then tried for a ceasefire, which would save all,
civilians and the LTTE leadership. The LTTE leadership was ready for it
but it was too late, KP said. He felt that if Prabhakaran had gone for a
ceasefire and talks in 2008, when the fighting was taking place only in
the Western Wanni region, the LTTE would have been a strong military
position to talk with greater assurance and get an honourable peace. But
when Prabhakaran sought a ceasefire in 2009, after Pooneryn, Paranthan,
Elephant Pass and Kilinochchi had fallen to the Lankan forces, it was too
late. From the governments point of view, victory was in view, with
outright victory in sight.It would have been stupid to go in for a
ceasefire, KP said. Then in March 2009, KP again tried to get a
ceasefire and save Prabhakaran. According to this plan, the LTTE was to
lock off or confine its weapons in particular places and hand them
over to the UN. The civilians would be confined to specified No Fire Zones
and LTTE leaders (25 to 50 of them) would be taken to another country to
conduct talks with the Lankan government with Norwegian facilitation. This
scheme was to be underwritten by the US, the EU and Norway. According to
KP, the US was ready to evacuate the LTTE leaders by sea in their naval
vessels. But the plan did not take off for two reasons. Firstly, it was
not concretised and officially communicated to the Lankan government for
their response. And secondly, Prabhakaran spiked it by saying: Ithai
Ettrukkolla Mudiyaathu (This cannot be accepted). KP blames the
hardline LTTE leaders in Europe led by Nediyavan of Norway, for this
decision. KPs next proposal was to send a ship-based helicopter to
rescue Prabhakaran and his family. This was initiated at the instance of
Prabhakarans eldest son Charles Anthony. Charles Anthony, who was
commanding LTTE troops at that time, wanted his father, mother
Mathivathani, sister Thuwaraka and younger brother Balachandran to be
rescued. He himself would stay put and fight. Prabhakaran refused to
accept this proposal as he too wanted to stay and fight. KP then suggested
that a helicopter pick the LTTE leader from the battle zone and drop in a
safe place behind the Lankan army lines in the Wanni jungle, from where he
could carry on the fight. The rest of the family could be taken by a
chopper and put in a ship waiting for them in international waters. But
this plan too failed (Express
Buzz : 16 Aug 2010).

Canadas
acceptance of the terrorists hidden bogus refugee ship could be an
encouragement to international terrorist groups and will set up a
dangerous precedent towards the global security!

Latest Tamil Boat People
- by Ira de Silva London, Ontario - Hon. V.
Toews Minister for Public Safety House of Commons Ottawa, Ontario; Dear
Sir: News reports indicate that it is your governments goal to ensure
that our refugee system is not hijacked by criminals or terrorists and
that changes may be required to Canadas refugee system. Unfortunately,
these opinions have been expressed by your government in the past
but nothing was done. When the last boatload of so-called Tamil refugees
landed in Canada last October, there was much song and dance by your
government about Canadas flawed refugee system. The Tamils were kept in
detention centres etc. to pacify the outcry from most Canadians and after
a short time they were all quietly released. Would you not agree that your
governments action last October sent a message to these Tamils that
they could easily get into Canada because they would know that your
government is just talking and not likely to do anything positive to stop
them from getting into the country where they will be supported by the
Canadian taxpayer to file refugee claims, provided with free medical care,
living costs etc. possibly for the rest of their lives? Recent polls
indicate that 85% of Canadians want their government, that means your
government, to send these people back. Previous Liberal governments
encouraged Tamils to come to Canada as they believed that the more Tamils
they got in the more votes they would garner especially in the Toronto
area. They ignored the fact that known Tamil terrorists were among those
they were admitting into the country. Security of other Canadians was
ignored by them in their quest for votes. Are you hoping that by letting
these people in they will vote for the Conservatives? (LankaWeb
: 16 Aug 2010).

Sri Lankas Telling
Exodus  August 15,2010 - by Ira de Silva
London, Canada; The Editor Toronto Star One Yonge Street, Toronto,
Ont. Dear Sir: Contrary to the bald opening statement that Canada does not
have a Tamil problem, it does. Is it not a Tamil problem when
supporters of the Tamil Tiger terrorists or LTTE are living in large
numbers in Toronto as demonstrated vividly when they took to the streets
of Toronto and Ottawa in their thousands last year waiving their LTTE
flags flouting the laws of Canada? It is a proven fact that they have been
funding terrorism in Sri Lanka for decades collecting and sending millions
of dollars from Canada for bombings, suicide and otherwise, massacres of
civilians and destroying the livelihoods of millions of Sri Lankans. It
could be argued that in that case the problem was for Sri Lankans because
it was they who were killed but they knew that it was a Tamil problem
originating from the Tamils in Canada. The media continuously refers to
the triumphalist government  it sounds good but that statement
has no substance. The only triumph was that Sri Lanka was rescued
from extreme terrorism by the LTTE and since May 2009 there has not been a
single instance of busses and trains being blown up or any other act of
terrorist violence so that the population is now free of terror and is
able to move around without fear. It was a triumph for all Sri
Lankans who prefer their life without terrorist fears which it appears the
writer does not want them to have. Too bad (LankaWeb
: 16 Aug 2010).

The Conservative
Government & the Sun Sea Fiasco - by Asoka
Weerasinghe, Canada - Re: MV Sun Sea and 490 illegal Tamil Migrants 
Canada has created a monster and it is slowly eating Canada up; Permit me
to introduce myself. I am a card carrying Conservative (C11255047) and a
Sustaining Donor of your party. Prior to that I was a card carrying
Reformist and then a member of the Canadian Alliance having dumped the
Liberal Party of which I was a member for decades for the very reason that
they were proxy killers of my Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka by letting the
Canadian Tamils collect two million dollars a month for 11 years to buy
weapons to fight their separatist Eelam war in Sri Lanka. The way the
Conservative Government has handled like a wimp the above issue, I have
decided not to fork out any more dollars as donations from now on until I
am satisfied with a creative and a gutsy remedy that you all will come up
with to stem the future flood of Tamil boat people without unjust attacks
on Sri Lanka. I have also decided not to vote Conservative at the next
federal election as a protest on this issue which is close to my heart as
a Sinhalese Sri Lankan-Canadian. These decisions are purely on principle
as I believe that my party does not deserve my valuable vote when they
support rogue Tamil refugee claimants and let Tamil Tiger terrorists into
the country. If you are feeling the wind of a back-lash on this very
issue, then count me in. The deafening silence by all other Conservative
parliamentarians speaks volumes, that your caucus colleagues are now
scared of intimidation by the 250,000 resident Tamils. What is going
through their minds, I am sure are, will we lose the Tamil votes at the
next elections or will 50,000 of them walk the streets in protest in
Ottawa and Toronto carrying Tamil Tiger flags harassing other Canadians
and blocking streets as well as block the Gardiner Express Highway once
again during rush hours by sending their grey-haired seniors, infants in
strollers and pregnant mothers to lead such demonstrations to dissuade
baton charges or water cannons being used to disperse these Tamil
demonstrators (LankaWeb
: 16 Aug 2010).

Tamil migrants paid up to
$50,000 each for passage, minister says - The
human-smugglers behind the Sun Sea may have pocketed more than $20 million
for ferrying a shipload of Sri Lankan migrants to the B.C. The passengers
each paid $40,000 to $50,000 for the three-month journey from Thailand,
Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews said in a weekend interview. He said
his officials had advised him the Tamil Tigers rebel organization was
behind the operation, which he said was driven by profit motives. While he
said he did not know if children or families got discounts, he said that
considering an old small tramp freighter such as the Sun Sea costs about
$1 million, the profit margin was significant. Theres a tremendous
amount of money to be made, the minister said. The smugglers had
refitted the 59-metre cargo ship to maximize their profits, he said. All
I can say is that the debriefing that I received was that it is clear that
this is the product of the efforts of an organized criminal enterprise,
said Toews. The Sun Sea itself was modified in order to make this trip
and maximize the number of persons and the resulting profits. For
example, he said a sanitation system had been installed to accommodate a
large number of people. The evidence that Ive been provided with at
this point shows that its a sophisticated operation that has
deliberately taken advantage of our system. He said this was not a case
of people jumping on the first cargo ship that happened to come by.
Rather, it was a deliberate attempt to make money by cramming as many
people as possible onto a small ship, he said. Asked who was behind it, he
said, The evidence presented to me suggests that its elements of the
Tamil Tigers. The Tamil Tigers are guerrillas who fought a lengthy war
for independence from Sri Lanka until they were decisively defeated by
government forces in May 2009 (Canada.com
: 16 Aug 2010).

Tigers get Rs. 4 Mil. In
Canada  Kerala arrest Tiger leader - The
Canada secret police has discovered that the 490 Sri Lankan Tamils who
were in the Sun Sea ship arrested while entering Canada, has
promised to pay US $ 40,000/= each to the Canadian Tiger network. The
Canadian secret police has also arrested Sea Tiger chief Vinothan, who
acted as the captain of this ship. During questioning of these people, the
Canadian police has found out that all Tamil refugees brought in to Canada
by Tiger ships must pay US $ 40,000/= within a year to the Canadian Tiger
network. It was also found out that this ship has come to Canada on 17th
of October 2009 as well. In separate incident Kerala police has
arrested Sunder Raj Sivakumar alias Siva, who is known to be the main
transport coordinator of the Tigers responsible for sending ship loads of
former LTTE cadres to four countries, with the intention to revive the
LTTE. He has already admitted to sending 35 trawlers of former cadres that
managed to run off to India, to various countries and also admitted that
he did so with the intention of reviving the LTTE again. He also confessed
to sending more than 1,500 ex cadres abroad in this manner (Sri
Lanka Watch : 16 Aug 2010).

Canada should follow the
Australian example says Lanka - Newest economic
refugees exploit Canadas lax immigration laws - Contrary to reports,
none of the Sri Lankan Tamils who paid $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 each for
passage to Canada are ex-LTTE combatants involved in Eelam war IV.
Authoritative military officials say the LTTEers had no way of escaping
the advancing army on the Vanni (east) front early last year by taking a
boat due to heavy naval presence backed by 24-hour monitoring by the SLAF
and navy technical sources. The navy had over a hundred craft
ranging from small boats and Fast Attack Craft to Offshore Patrol Craft
deployed off Mullaithivu to thwart attempts by the LTTE to flee, a senior
official said. Responding to a query by The Island, the official who
had been involved in naval operations on the Mullaithivu seas, said had
there been the slightest chance, the LTTE leadership would have escaped.
"We captured Sea Tiger leader Soosais wife as she was trying to
reach the Indian waters less than four days before the final battle on the
banks of the Nanthikadal lagoon," he said, urging the Canadian
government not to be deceived by human smugglers. Since the
conclusion of the war in May last year several ship/boatloads of Sri
Lankan Tamils have reached Australia, Indonesia and Canada.Sri Lankan
sources said that even if LTTE cadres had managed to leave Sri Lanka
through the Bandaranaike International Airport using forged travel
documents, they could not have raised $ 40,000 to $ 50,000 each for their
passage. Sources emphasised that almost all the passengers of MV Sun
Sea, now seeking political asylum in Canada had left Sri Lanka years
ago and most probably were not involved in LTTE terrorism.
Intelligence sources told The Island that the 59-metre cargo ship MV Sun
Sea, which had been especially modified to accommodate about 500
persons left Thailand three months ago. "The vessel came from the
Gulf of Thailand, between the Philippines and Japan and then straight
across the ocean and following a similar, but not exactly the same, route
as the Ocean Lady," a senior official said (Island
: 16 Aug 2010).

CFA: Created by LTTE,
presented by Solheim, accepted by UNF Will Lessons Learnt Commission make
a bid to establish real authors of failed CFA? -
Now that former Peace Secretariat Chief, Ambassador Bernard Gunatilleke
has said that the LTTE was directly involved in the drafting of the
Norwegian-arranged CFA, the Lessons Learnt Commission, headed by former
Attorney General C. R. de Silva, could make an attempt to ascertain the
extent of the LTTEs involvement, sources close to the failed peace
process said. Sources said that it would reveal the collusion on the
part of the Norwegian facilitators, particularly Erik Solheim in an LTTE
plan aimed at tightening its grip in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Sources alleged that LTTE Chief negotiator Anton Balasingham in
consultation with LTTE field commanders had prepared the CFA and
presented it through the Norwegians to the then Premier Ranil
Wickremesinghe and his team of negotiators led by Prof. G.L. Peiris.
Milinda Moragoda and SLMC leader Rauf Hakeem, too, had been deeply
involved in the negotiations and they would be able to shed light on the
deal if summoned by the Lessons Learnt Commission, sources said.
Responding to a query by The Island, sources said that the Sri Lankan
government had not been consulted before preparing the CFA text, though it
was given an opportunity to propose amendments. But, Sri Lankas
amendments, including one relating to child/human rights had not been
accepted, the sources said. Sources said that Defence Secretary
Gotabhayas predecessor, Austin Fernando would be able to comment on the
issue with authority when he appeared before the commission on Aug.1 8.
Defence Secretary Rajapaksa would appear before the commission today (Aug.
17). Sources said that the authors of both the CFA and ISGA (Interim
Self Governing Authority) presented by the LTTE in October 2003 could be
the same. Secretary to the commission S. M. Samarakoon told The
Island that former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, the current
External Affairs Minister G. L. Peiris and former Minister Milinda
Moragoda could be summoned by the Lessons Learnt Commission investigating
the collapse of the Norwayarranged CFA which led to the Eelam War IV in
August 2006 (Island
; 16 Aug 2010).

Smuggled Tamils worth up
to $10M for snakeheads - Each of the 490
Sri Lankans dumped on the B.C. coast by MV Sun Sea is worth up to
$20,000  totalling almost $10 million  for smugglers or snakeheads,
a Liberal MP says. Snakeheads routinely charge from $15,000 to
$20,000 for the sea trip to Canada, said Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, who
is a member of an immigration standing committee. "I am concerned
about the women and the children," he said Saturday. "The women
can be forced to work in the sex trade to repay their passage,"
Karygiannis said. There were 90 women and 45 children on the boat.
"In many cases their families here pay for the trip," he said,
adding others work in harsh conditions for low pay to give to the
smugglers. "We know there are human smugglers preying on these people
in refugee camps," said Manjula Selvarajah, of the Canadian Tamil
Congress, adding living conditions on the ship were terrible. "This
is awful and we have taken a strong stand against human smuggling,"
she said. More than 90 Toronto Tamils have called their office with the
names of 150 relatives who may be on the ship. The migrants, who are
expected to file refugee claims, are now undergoing health and background
security checks at CFB Esquimalt. Officers are screening for Tamil Tiger
terrorists who may be hiding among the refugees. Toronto immigration
lawyers estimate it to cost about $22 million in legal fees for refugee
hearings and appeals for the claimants. About 91 per cent of Sri Lankan
refugees are accepted by immigration and refugee boards (IRB) to stay in
Canada, Lawyer Richard Kurland said. "Most of this group will end up
living in Canada legally," he said. "The majority are accepted
by the IRB as legitimate refugees." Public Security Minister Vic
Toews has said the government "must ensure that our refugee system is
not hijacked by criminals or terrorists." (Island
: 16 Aug 2010).

Tamil asylum-seekers
identified as Tiger terrorists -
ASYLUM-SEEKERS travelling to Australia have been identified by Sri Lanka
as members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam. The
identification of the terrorist group members was based on photographs of
new arrivals published in the Australian media. As authorities in
Canada confirmed that a people-smuggling ship, MV Sun Sea, intercepted
late last week with nearly 500 people aboard, was organised by the LTTE,
security experts warned that former Tiger fighters were known to have
sailed to Australia on refugee boats. Shanaka Jayasekara, who served
as an adviser to the Sri Lankan government during peace talks with the
LTTE, said the fighters had been identified based on the photographs of
arrivals. "Several have identified by photographic pictures that were
made available in the media, and the Sri Lankan authorities identified
them," Mr Jayasekara told The Australian. He said most Tamil
asylum-seekers were not members of the Tigers, and the number of fighters
identified was small. Of these, most were mid-level members and Mr
Jayasekara was not sure if they had completed their journeys to Australia
or Indonesia. The development casts fresh light on the relationship
between people-smuggling and the LTTE, which was beaten in May last year
after a decades-long war with the Sri Lankan government. Canadian
authorities boarded the Sun Sea off the coast of British Columbia on
Thursday. It arrived under escort on Friday at the Esquimalt navy base on
Vancouver Island near the provincial capital, Victoria. Aboard were 493
men, women and children. Sources told The Australian the ship was believed
to have been crewed by members of the LTTE. The existence of the
ship was first reported by The Australian in May, following claims the
boat was bound for Australia. Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic
Toews said the Sun Sea, which was moored off the Thai and Vietnamese
coasts for months as it loaded its passengers, had been organised by the
LTTE. "The evidence . . . suggests that it is the work of the
Tamil Tigers, or LTTE," Mr Toews told Canada's Globe and Mail.
Australian government sources confirmed there were concerns the LTTE might
use its defunct merchant fleet to smuggle people, although it is not known
if any Australian trips have been linked to the Tigers. But ASIO is
understood to have concerns about a number of Tamils who arrived by boat
in the middle of last year. Five Tamils deemed threats to national
security have had adverse security assessments issued against them (Australian
National Affairs: 16 Aug 2010).

SuspectedTigers in
garb of refugees enter Canada by cargo ship - At
sea for three crowded and grueling months, hundreds of Tamil asylum
seekers from Sri Lanka sought refuge in Canada when their rusty,
ramshackle cargo ship finally edged into the shelter of a Canadian naval
base. Some passengers stood on the deck, shaded by striped lengths of
cloth, after the ship, the MV Sun Sea, pulled in on Aug 13.
Paramedics wearing surgical masks tended to them. A few were taken away on
stretchers and placed into ambulances at dockside; all were shielded from
view by black umbrellas. "This is a new beginning," said a
spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, Gary Anandasangare, who watched
the freighter slide into port. The arrival of the cargo ship and its 490
refugees, however, raised concerns among Canadian officials that the rebel
Tamil Tigers, who fought and lost a bloody 25-year war for independence in
Sri Lanka that ended last year, were smuggling people into Canada, which
is home to the largest Tamil community outside Sri Lanka and India (Asian
Tribune: 16 Aug 2010).

Jaffna red onions in
demand - There is an increase in the demand for
Jaffna red onions. The number of Jaffna farmers involved in red onion
cultivation has increased, Agriculture Extension Deputy Director, Jaffna,
S. Sivakumar said. Around 1,250 hectares have been cultivated with
red onions in the Jaffna district. This is increasing gradually. Over 6000
farmers are cultivating red onion in Jaffna, he said. Sivakumar said
with the opening of the A-9 road, Jaffna's red onion harvest is reaching
the South. There is a big demand for Jaffna red onions in the South,"
he said. Farmers cultivate red onion during two seasons. Government
provides assistance to red onion cultivators by providing land and
irrigation facilities, the Deputy Director said. He said the local annual
demand for red onion is 75,000 tons. The Agriculture Ministry will also
produce red onion seeds in Jaffna and Vavuniya and encourage farmers to
cultivate them (Daily
News : 16 Aug 2010).

Lankan migrants in good
condition  only 6 admitted to hospital - Asylum-seekers
aboard the MV Sun Sea had arrived in surprisingly good health aboard a
well-organized but extremely cramped ship, Canadian officials said at a
press conference Saturday. "The migrants appeared to be in good
condition after being at sea for several months," said Insp. Tracey
Rook of the RCMP. Only 27 of the almost 500 people on board were taken to
the reopened emergency ward at Victoria General Hospital, said Richard
Crow, chief medical officer for Vancouver Island Health Authority. Of
those, only six people were admitted to hospital, including two pregnant
women, and none were in serious condition. Nausea and dehydration were the
most common complaints (Island
: 15 Aug 2010).

UK Exporting terror- An
Open Letter - By Ben Silva - I am glad that Hon
David Cameron, PM, is taking terrorism seriously and credit should be
given to him for recognizing that terrorism could be exported. As decent
humans we should take all practical measures to eliminate terrorism from
the world and concentrate on solving problems, to help all humankind. The
present UK government is bravely tackling problems facing UK. In contrast,
Mr Milliband of the previous labour government, actually made a shameful
attempt to give a lifeline to the terrorists and have been exporting
terror. If Mr Milliband had his way, there would still be killings in Sri
Lanka. Since the defeat of terrorism, there has not been a single bomb or
killing by terrorists and this alone justifies GOSL action. In fact Mr
Milliband attempted to lead Sri Lanka into a death trap. There is clear
evidence that UK, Canada and EU have been exporting terror. Although UK
has put an anti terror front and an unenforced ban on terror
organizations, all the evidence is that, in reality, and for all practical
purposes, UK, EU and Canada have been exporting terror [1],[2],[5].
Further UK has been heavily favoring Tamils and discriminating against the
Sinhalese, again not enforcing equal opportunities laws. Both Hon Simon
Hughs and Hon Keith Vaz have been accused of sympathizing with the
terrorists and doing their propaganda in exchange for votes. There is a
very simple scheme, and a sure fire method used by the terrorists, to
generate funds , given below:
(LankaWeb : 15 Aug 2010).

Inaccurate Claims by Rev
Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan - by Dilrook
Kannangara - Desmond Tutu and Kofi Annan have made several unverified
claims about Sri Lanka. In addition, based on these inaccurate claims,
they have made ridiculous recommendations. Little that these gentlemen
realize, there are two sides to the same story. Often information reaching
them could be polluted by Tamil racist elements that habitually monger
racism, hatred, suicide bombings and child soldiers. From 1983 to 2009,
the war killed 100,000 people. That is on average 3,850 persons dying
every year or 10 to 11 dying everyday. However, the war is over and people
are not dying from it anymore. In other words, for the past 15 months of
no-war, 4,800 lives have been saved so far! Arent you going to
appreciate this enormous good deed by the government of Sri Lanka? No
other good deed can match this and it speaks volumes about what real peace
is when thousands of people get to live. The best cause of action is to
undertake a trip to Sri Lanka so that they can see for themselves what the
ground realities are. Until then, here are factual revelations in relation
to inaccurate claims made by the duo and The Elders
(LankaWeb : 15 Aug 2010).

Lessons to be learnt from
the CFA - by Ajit Randeniya - The report last
week of former head of the Peace Secretariat, Bernard Gunatillekes
evidence before the Lessons Learnt Commission on the processes relating to
the signing of the so-called 2002 Cease Fire Agreement (CFA) was enlightening,
unfortunately in a frighteningly negative way. While Bernard
Gunatillekes evidence brings to light the usual, deceptive tricks
employed by neocolonialists (US, UK, Canada and Australia supported by
sundry other white nations, Norway in this case,) in their attempts
at influencing the national political and economic affairs of developing
countries, the apparent lack of sophistication in advising the government
by advisors such as Mr Gunatilleke on suitable responses to such
conspiracies is disturbing. Mr Gunatillekes evidence reveals an
appalling level of naivety of the (then) government regarding its
alertness to the mechanics of the conspiracy the CPA represented, and the
Governments assessments of the conditions that led to their succumbing
to the deal; the almost detached, oblivious, narration of these
deficiencies by a senior diplomat such as Mr Gunatilleke who bore the
responsibility for providing sound advice to the Government should be
chillingly concerning to all Sri Lankans. Mr Gunatilleke deserves
credit for his decision to forgo the opportunity to give evidence in
camera, and the offer to reveal to the Sri Lankan public the anatomy of
the unmitigated disaster the CFA constituted; without his revelations, Sri
Lankans would have been none the wiser. However, his decision also shows
that he is still oblivious to the enormity of the problem he is partly
responsible for creating! (LankaWeb
: 15 Aug 2010).

Tamil Migrant Story- Some
Facts for your Consideration - by Dr. Bandu
Madanayake President  Canadian Association for United Sri lanka - Dear
Hon.Vic Toews; Minister of Public Safety Canada; We like to thank you
for sending a strong message to the world. Canada is now known as a haven
for terrorist activities particularly Toronto. Words alone will not
convince anyone. We think Toronto is fast becoming well-known to be a city
that attracts terrorists. As Sri Lankan born Canadians who belong to the
Sinhalese community we feel any reference to Sri Lankan migrants is
painting all Sri Lankans with the same brush. Sri Lankan- Sinhalese
community is not involved in terrorist activities and are law abiding
citizens. Could we please be clear in your communications to say the
Migrants are Sri Lankan Tamils. Sri Lankan -Sinhalese community are
reluctant to speak up as they fear for their personal safety, particularly
in Toronto as they do not want to get entangled with the Tamil Tiger
movement who are known to be ruthless. Here are some facts for your
consideration. The Tamil migrants have started their journey most likely
from Indonesia, Malaysia or India and NOT from Sri Lanka. They suffer no
threat in Sri Lanka and travel in and out of it without any problems. In
fact they collected enough money and flew or sailed to the Malaysian area
and then joined these people-smuggling ex-LTTE ships to attempt to
immigrate to an affluent western country. They are not fleeing
persecution and genocide  they are economic immigrants sponsored by
ex-LTTE Tamil groups catering only to Tamils, and abusing the humanitarian
laws of Canada. Some of them may be wanted by the SriLankan government for
previous Terrorist activities, and if so, Canada too should be very
careful of admitting such people via the refugee ploy. A majority of
Tamils ( over 1 million) live in Sinhala-majority areas, and all citizens,
irrespective of their ethnicity have exactly the same political and civic
rights, including parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil language. Here
note that according to the CIA-fact book only about 5% of the population
are Sri Lankan Tamils. Yet there are more than 10% Tamil-speaking MPs in
the Sri Lankan parliament (LankaWeb
: 15 Aug 2010).

Ottawa vows to stop
illegal migrants before they depart for Canada -
As hundreds of asylum seekers are being processed in B.C., Public Safety
Minister Vic Toews says officials shouldnt be dealing with such cases
after the fact. Ottawa is vowing to curb illegal immigration
by stopping asylum seekers before they set sail for Canada, as border
officials in B.C. scramble to process hundreds of migrants who arrived
aboard the MV Sun Sea. Canadian intelligence should identify these ships
before they leave their ports of origin, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews
said in an interview Saturday, about 36 hours after nearly 500 illegal
migrants were intercepted off the B.C. coast and brought to CFB Esquimalt.
That, I believe, should be the real focus, rather than trying to deal
with them after the fact. Hours after the Thai-registered Sun Sea
arrived on Friday, Mr. Toews said Canadian officials suspect the vessel is
part of a human-smuggling operation run by the the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam, though he offered no evidence to support this claim. Mr.
Toews, who contends other human smugglers are watching Canadas response
closely, reiterated his concern on Saturday. The evidence ... suggests
that it is the work of the Tamil Tigers, or LTTE, Mr. Toews said,
though he didnt cite the source of the information. The LTTE, known as
the Tamil Tigers, is a banned terrorist organization and separatist group
that lost a 26-year civil war in Sri Lanka last year. Minority Tamils,
however, say they are persecuted by the Sri Lankan government. The Canada
Border Service Agency, whose team continues to inspect the MV Sun Sea with
the RCMP, said the vessel was outfitted with sleeping quarters and a
sanitation system. It was also stocked with food, including rice, dried
fish and juice containers. It was relatively clean and organized. A
system had been developed to dispose of waste and garbage. There were
sleeping quarters onboard with hammocks, spokesman Rob Johnston said at
a news conference. Mr. Toews said the system was further evidence of a
smuggling operation. The Sun Sea was modified in order to make this
trip and maximize the number of persons, and of course the resulting
profit, he told the Globe (Globe
& Mail : 15 Aug 2010).

LTTE smuggling Tamils
into Canada? - At sea for three crowded and
grueling months, hundreds of Tamil asylum seekers from war-ravaged Sri
Lanka sought refuge in Canada when their rusty, ramshackle cargo ship
finally edged just after sunrise into the shelter of a Canadian naval
base. Some passengers stood on the deck, shaded by striped lengths of
cloth, after the ship, the MV Sun Sea, pulled in on Friday.
Paramedics wearing surgical masks tended to them. A few were taken away on
stretchers and placed into ambulances at dockside; all were shielded from
view by black umbrellas. "This is a new beginning," said a
spokesman for the Canadian Tamil Congress, Gary Anandasangare, who watched
the freighter slide into port. The arrival of the cargo ship and its 490
refugees, however, raised concerns among Canadian officials that the rebel
Tamil Tigers, who fought and lost a bloody 25-year war for independence
that ended last year, were smuggling people into Canada, which is home to
the largest Tamil community outside Sri Lanka and India. "Our goal is
to ensure that our refugee system is not hijacked by criminals or
terrorists," said the public safety minister, Vic Toews, whose
government labeled the LTTE a terrorist group in 2006. Last October, a
ship carrying 76 Sri Lankans was intercepted in Canadian waters. All are
free while their cases are being processed (Times
of India : 15 Aug 2010).

MV Sun Sea migrants
screened for Tiger suspects: Canada shuts out human traffickers,
terrorists - As Canadian authorities began
screening the 490 migrants on board the MV Sun Sea for suspected LTTE
terrorists, a Canadian Minister said Canada should close its doors to
terrorists and human traffickers. We are very concerned that there are
elements of the LTTE on board this vessel, and indeed may be
co-coordinating this activity as part of a larger enterprise, Canadas
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told reporters. We believe it is
essential that our border and law enforcement agencies have the physical
and legal means to prevent illegal migration and human smuggling and to
identify those individuals coming to Canada who have been involved in
terrorist activities or are members of a terrorist group, Minister
Toews was quoted as saying by Canadian media. At CFB Esquimalt, where the
MV Sun Sea was docked after being intercepted by the Canadian Navy on
Thursday, the Minister said the ship was part of a larger operation that
was closely watching Canadas response. We must ensure our refugee
system is not hijacked by criminals, he told reporters in Victoria. He
also added that this is not an isolated case, but the product of a
sophisticated ring of criminals. I dont view this as an isolated,
independent act, he said, responding to a question about whether more
migrant ships are coming. We believe that there are others who are
watching this particular situation to determine the reaction of Canadian
authorities, Toews said. Human smuggling is a despicable crime and
any attempted abuses of our nations generosity for financial gain are
utterly unacceptable. As officials move forward with this investigation,
the government will consider whether further improvements are needed to
disrupt and deter criminal organisations and enterprises such as
smuggling, he added. Any individuals who endanger national security
or who have engaged in the criminal enterprise of human smuggling will be
prosecuted to the full extent of the law. In addition to re-examining
whether Canadian law was sufficiently strong, he said the government
would look at improving international co-operation and intelligence
sharing (Sunday
Observer : 15 Aug 2010).

LTTE
human smugglers may have made more than $20-million from bogus refugee
ship

'Shocking' number on
vessel - As Canadian officials began examining
the estimated 490 Sri Lankan migrants smuggled to the B.C. coast in a
cargo ship, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said changes may be needed to
stop human traffickers. At CFB Esquimalt, where the MV Sun Sea was docked
after being intercepted by the Navy on Thursday, the Minister said the
ship was part of a larger operation that was closely watching Canada's
response. "As officials move forward with this investigation, the
government will consider whether further improvements are needed to
disrupt and deter criminal organizations and enterprises such as
smuggling," he said. "We believe it is essential that our border
and law enforcement agencies have the physical and legal means to prevent
illegal migration and human smuggling and to identify those individuals
coming to Canada who have been involved in terrorist activities or are
members of a terrorist group." In addition to re-examining whether
Canadian law was "sufficiently strong," he said the government
would look at improving international co-operation and intelligence
sharing. "What this case demonstrated is the need to work on an
international basis with our allies, rather than viewing this as a problem
that Canadians can solve on their own." The Sun Sea arrived at CFB
Esquimalt yesterday morning under Navy and RCMP escort. The vessel is
59-metres long and does not appear capable of transporting close to 500
people across the Pacific Ocean, although a Navy official said it was
deemed mechanically sound. "It'sabsolutelyshocking," said Gary
Anandasangaree, legal advisor for the Canadian Tamil Congress, as he stood
on an Indian reserve opposite the ship. "It's astounding that so many
people could be on a boat like that this long. It really shows the
desperation that people have in fleeing Sri Lanka." The migrants are
believed to be members of Sri Lanka's ethnic Tamil minority, which has
long complained of government discrimination. A civil war for Tamil
independence ended in May 2009, with the defeat of the Tamil Tigers rebel
group, also known as the LTTE. A Canada Border Services Agency official,
Rob Johnston, said the B.C. Ministry of Children and Families was involved
in yesterday's operation. Should any of the migrants turn out to be
unaccompanied minors, the ministry could step in. He said it was too early
to provide accurate information on the ages or genders of the migrants.
While some appeared quite young, Mr. Toews said human smugglers and
terrorists were also aboard. "We are very concerned that there are
elements of the LTTE and the Tamil Tigers on board this vessel, and indeed
may be co-ordinating this activity as part of a larger enterprise,"
the Minister told reporters (National
Post : 14 Aug 2010).

Smugglers may have made
more than $20-million from Tamil ship - The
human smugglers behind the MV Sun Sea may have pocketed more than
$20-million for ferrying a shipload of Sri Lankan migrants to the British
Columbia coast last week. The passengers each paid $40,000 to
$50,000 for the three-month journey from Thailand, Public Safety Minister
Vic Toews told the National Post in an interview this weekend. He
said his officials had advised him the Tamil Tigers rebel organization was
behind the operation, which he said was driven by profit motives.
While he said he did not know whether children or families got discounts,
he said that considering a ship like the Sun Sea costs about $1-million,
the profit margin was significant. Theres a tremendous amount
of money to be made, the minister said. The smugglers had
refitted the 59-metre cargo ship to maximize their profits, he said.
All I can say is that the debriefing that I received was that it is
clear that this is the product of the efforts of an organized criminal
enterprise. In fact, the Sun Sea itself was modified in order to
make this trip and maximize the number of persons and the resulting
profits. For example, he said a sanitation system had been installed
to accommodate a large number of people for a lengthy voyage. So
the evidence that Ive been provided with at this point shows that its
a sophisticated operation that has deliberately taken advantage of our
system. He said this was not a case of people jumping on the
first cargo ship that happened to come by. Rather, it was a
deliberate attempt to make money by cramming as many people as possible
onto a small ship, he said. Asked who was behind it, he said, The
evidence presented to me suggests that its elements of the Tamil Tigers
or LTTE. The Tamil Tigers are guerrillas who fought a lengthy war
for independence from Sri Lanka until they were decisively defeated by
government forces in May 2009. Since then, there have been
allegations the rebels are trying to rebuild and the profits earned from
human smuggling are part of a strategy to prepare for another round of
fighting. The minister said there was no truth to reports the ship
had originally intended to travel to Australia but had changed course
after Canberra made it clear they were not welcome. He said the ships
destination was always Canada. He also confirmed the ship had sailed from
the relative safety of Thailand, not Sri Lanka, which is recovering from
protracted civil war and where there remain widespread concerns about the
human rights of the ethnic Tamil minority. The boat came from the Gulf
of Thailand, between the Philippines and Japan and then straight across
the ocean and following a similar, but not exactly the same, route as the
Ocean Lady, he said. The Ocean Lady was a migrant smuggling vessel that
arrived off the West Coast last October with 76 aboard, all Sri Lankans.
He said the fact they had sailed from Thailand would be a factor
considered at their refugee hearings (National
Post : 14 Aug 2010).

Commission to summon
Ranil, GL, Milinda? - Former Prime Minister
Ranil Wickremesinghe and several other politicians, including External
Affairs Minister G.L.Peiris and Milinda Moragoda, are expected to be
summoned by the Lessons Learnt Commission investigating the collapse of
the Norwayarranged CFA which led to the Eelam War IV in August
2006. None of them are listed to appear before the commission in
August, though Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa (Aug. 17) and his
predecessor Austin Fernando (Aug. 18) will testify. Secretary to the
Commission S. M. Samarakoon Friday acknowledged the possibility of calling
them in the wake of former Peace Secretariat Chief Bernard Goonatillekes
revelation that Norwegian facilitators had pushed the then Premier
Wickremesinghes government to finalize the CFA hastily.
Samarakoon was responding to a question soon after eminent lawyer, S.L.
Gunasekera, and TULF leader, V. Anandasangaree, appeared before the
Commission headed by former Attorney General C.R. de Silva. In his
statement on Wednesday, Ambassador Goonatilleke said that Norwegian
facilitators had discussed the CFA text with the then Premier
Wickremesinghe and a few members of his cabinet before concluding the
agreement. Although Goonatilleke had not named the ministers nor had the
Commission asked him who was directly involved in the negotiations, it is
widely believed that Messrs Peiris and Moragoda had been deeply involved
in the process. Wickremesinghe appointed both to his negotiating team with
Peiris leading the government delegation which had six rounds of talks
before the LTTE quit the process in April 2003. C. R. de Silva in his
opening remarks last Wednesday (Aug. 11) said that they were expected to
complete their work in six months. He assured that those appearing before
the commission could give their evidence in camera. Responding to a
question from this paper, Commission Secretary Samarakoon said that the
possibility of Norwegian facilitators being called before the commission
would be considered (Island
: 14 Aug 2010).

Human smuggling suspected
aboard seized ship - Almost 500 Sri Lankan
migrants are in Canadian custody after officials Thursday boarded a small
ship suspected of human smuggling off the coast of British Columbia,
according to Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews. Canadian officials
had been monitoring the vessel, MV Sun Sea, after its departure from Sri
Lanka nearly three months ago, according to Toews. The ship first stopped
in Thailand before crossing the Pacific and moving up the west coast of
North America, Toews said. Toews indicated that officials believe the ship
is "part of a larger human smuggling and human trafficking
enterprise," and there are concerns "that there are elements of
the LTTE and Tamil Tigers on board this vessel." The Tamil Tigers,
also known as the Liberation Tigers of Eelam, are a militant separatist
group who have been accused of war crimes and played a significant and
controversial role in the Sri Lankan civil war. Krisna Saravanamuttu, a
spokesman for the National Council of Canadian Tamils, said similar fears
were expressed in May when 76 Tamils arrived aboard the Ocean Lady. But,
he said, no evidence has been uncovered to support those fears.
Saravanamuttu said the Sun Sea is believed to be carrying primarily
Tamils, Sri Lanka's largest minority population. Tamils, he said, have
been seeking asylum in Canada since the 1980s because of Sri Lanka's
lengthy and bloody civil war. Now, he said, Canada's 300,000 Tamils is the
largest grouping outside Sri Lanka (CNN
: 14 Aug 2010).

Tamils: Most will be
jailed - by Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - The
Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN; Sir: Tamils: Most will be jailed,
you reported this morning, referring to the 490 illegal Tamil migrants on
the ship Sun Sea according to reports also have Tamil Tiger terrorists
among them, that arrived on the B.C. coast. Dream on Canada, and I wont
hold my breath to see that eventuality, as the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms will not allow us that luxury as we are still been waiting for 20
years for some Tamils to be removed from Canada after being ruled by court
to be deported. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms was on their side and
they have been appealing ever since, and there are enough human rights and
immigration lawyers to fight their cause in court. The Canadian in me
says, The party is over chaps, we are taking you back home to Sri Lanka
in comfort in one of our ships and here are the application forms for
immigration, fill them out and hand them to Canadas High Commissioner
in Colombo to have them processed, and get to the back of the queue with
the rest of the applicants until your applications are processed. The
Sri Lankan in me says, Good riddance. If Canada is that foolish to take
in Tamil Tiger terrorists whom they banned that bled Sri Lanka for 27
years with suicide bombings, sending child soldiers to the front line to
fight an adult war and get killed and ethnic cleansing, send over your
immigrations officers to do the paper work and take every Tamil Tiger
terrorist home with you who wants to come to Canada. But see that they
will not try to re-group in Canada and collect funds to buy weapons to
start another separatist war, as we will not tolerate it. Good luck and
Hallelujah, Canada. (LankaWeb
: 14 Aug 2010).

Tamil politics post-LTTE:
serious business or serial stories? - by Rajan
Philips - Last week I highlighted three episodes as evidence of the
dystopian state of Sri Lankan politics. There are many more but one in
particular deserves dishonourable mention: the KP interviews. The
serialized media interviews of T.S. Pathmanathan (KP) should raise the
concern whether Tamil politics in Sri Lanka is being reduced to the status
of serial stories published in Tamil Nadu magazines like Kalki, Kumudham
and Ananda Vihadan. All three were staple reading among Sri Lankan Tamil
middle class families in better times. In hard times now, people have no
time for stories but story telling is becoming the pastime in Tamil
politics. But the KP story is neither edifying nor inspirational. It is
totally unremarkable. KP was introduced to Prabhakaran  both 20 +
years, by Amirthalingam when he was out of parliament (1970-77) and in
with the grassroots as well as the violent upstarts. The meeting could not
have been anything more than innocuous, but some weasel story teller might
one day describe it as a momentous meeting in the history of Ilankai
Tamils. KP was also in the frame at Prabhakarans wedding. The
photographic evidence is part of the same history. Then he took to the
seas literally making fortunes and procuring arms for the LTTE through
fair means and foul. He like many others lived as if the LTTE sun would
never set. But the sun did set. In fact, it crashed. KPs story, not
Tamil history, took a U-turn last year when he was arrested in Kuala
Lumpur. He saw the light to his new path as he crossed the threshold to
the Defence Secretarys official bungalow in Colombo. So much for the KP
story; I cannot justify more than a paragraph on it even if I were to
write at length (Island
: 14 Aug 2010).

Best to stop human cargo
at home ports - Whether the hundreds of sick and
desperate Tamils crowded onto the MV Sun Sea that sailed across the
Pacific for the last number of months are terrorists, legitimate refugees
or economic opportunists shouldn't be Canada's primary concern. The fact
is their very presence in a country that routinely accepts queue jumpers
with barely a bump at the border puts at risk not only the lives of other
desperate Tamils who will emulate them, but of countless other legitimate
refugees who have followed the rules in a hope for freedom and opportunity
in Canada. Certainly there is much to worry about if some of these
passengers are connected to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terror
group banned not only in Canada but in most of the developed world. The
FBI reports the Tigers are "among the most dangerous and deadly
extremists in the world," crediting the organization with inventing
the suicide belt, pioneering the use of women in suicide attacks, and
killing two world leaders -- something no other terrorist group has done.
And there has been a history of LTTE agents soliciting and extorting funds
and fighters from the Tamil expatriate population in Canada -- the largest
in the world. The long and bloody war this group fomented in Sri Lanka is
over and, while that country's government is still far from living up to
its international obligations in dealing with the minority Tamils,
allowing the Tigers to re-establish and rebuild in Canada would be a
catastrophe. There is already concern that Canada's refugee system is so
full of holes that groups such as the Tigers see it as an easy mark when
it comes to finding refuge for their fighters and as a place to regroup.
In October, 76 Tamils showed up on the B.C. coast on the rusted-out
freighter Ocean Lady. In spite of testimony from Singapore-based terrorism
expert Rohan Gunaratna that the captain of the ship was a well-known Tiger
who used to deliver arms, ammunitions and explosives from North Korea to
Sri Lanka, every one aboard that ship has since been released into
Toronto's vast Tamil community. And there has been evidence that at least
some of the more than 200 Tamils on the MV Sun Sea also have links to the
terrorist group. In fact, some of the passengers from the first ship told
the Toronto Star that they paid $45,000 for their voyage, an amount that
would be out-of-reach for a typical legitimate refugee (The
Star Phonenix : 14 Aug 2010).

How can we tell if
terrorists are among migrants? - In the past,
the Canadian government has recognized the refugee claims of 90 per cent
of Tamils who have arrived in this country. But uncertainty
surrounds the arrival yesterday of 490 Sri Lankans aboard the MV Sun
Sea. The biggest question is how the RCMP and Canada Border Services
Agency will be able to tell the difference between human smugglers,
terrorists and people legitimately leaving a desperate situation in Sri
Lanka. Yesterday, Rob Johnston, border services director of inland
enforcement, said the agency will exercise due diligence in screening
individuals for security and criminal threats. "All the
individuals will be processed in accordance with Canadian law. This
involves a full examination, taking of fingerprints and photographs and
security and criminal checks," said Johnston. The initial
examination will take 48 to 72 hours, he said. But the entire refugee
eligibility process will take a fair amount of time. "In
situations like this, we've run into large difficulties with
identification and we need to be able to confirm who the individuals are
we're dealing with," said Johnston. The agency will detain
individuals believed to be a security risk or a danger to the public. They
will also detain people they can't identify and those they believe will
not appear for refugee hearings, he said. Border services will work
with the RCMP "to rummage the vessel" and collect evidence of
violations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or Customs Act,
he said. Victoria immigration lawyer Peter Golden, who represented
Chinese migrants who arrived on the shores of Vancouver Island in 1999,
said the law allows people to be detained while officials try to determine
identities and evaluate the risk to public safety (Times
colonist : 14 Aug 2010).

KP SPEAKS
OUT -2: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FORMER LTTE CHIEF -
Q:So how did the return occur? How and why did you re-join the
movement?What was your role during the last days of the war? Thats
another long story. I was now out of the movement and leading a quiet life
in Thailand with my family. I had no idea of returning to the movement
though my wife felt that I would always go back if asked by Prabhakaran
himself. As for me I did not think that I would re-join because it is
extremely rare for anyone being recalled by the LTTE after his or her
services were discontinued. Also I knew the extent to which some senior
LTTE leaders had worked against me and poisoned Prabhakarans mind
against me. But even though I was out of the LTTE I was always following
the news about what was happening. Though I was out of the LTTE, I was
getting worried as events unfolded because I could see from the news that
the LTTE was not faring well. The Tiger ships were getting knocked out at
sea by the Sri Lankan navy. As the man who had kept the LTTE supplied, I
knew how important it was for the LTTE to maintain supplies throughout by
the sea. So I realized that the ships getting destroyed was a bad thing Q:
How did that happen? How did the Sri Lankan navy become so efficient in
taking out so many Tiger vessels? I think various Colombo governments over
the years had gradually built up and modernized the Navy. They were also
getting additional intelligence inputs from different countries. So the
Navy at the time of the ceasefire had reached high levels of efficiency.
The ceasefire conditions and rules were not clear about movement in the
sea. So the Navy was able to move about freely and monitor LTTE ships Q:
Did not the LTTE anticipate this? (Daily
Mirror : 14 Aug 2010).

LTTE
beauticians released today - Thirty seven former
LTTE members who were trained in beauty culture would be released this
evening, Commissioner General of Rehabilitation Brigadier Sudantha
Ranasinghe said. All these members who are above 45 years have mostly
done administrative work for the LTTE at that time. However, during the
final years of the war, the organization had given them weapons training
and sent to the battle field, he said. Brigadier Ranasinghe said that
this would be the last batch of that age-category to be released from
rehabilitation camps. They are expected to be re-united with their family
members at a function to mark the event in Vavuniya. We have trained
them in bridal and hair dressing, he said. Besides, he said that some
other ex-combatants were given training in coconut cultivation
(Daily Mirror : 14 Aug 2010).

Questions on
KP - The treatment and forgiveness shown by the
government towards former LTTE leader Kumaran Padmanadan, alias "KP"
is unacceptable when ex- LTTE combatants and IDPs are still detained,
TULF leader V.Anandasangaree said while making his presentation at the
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Committee (LLRC) today. He added
that the there were more than 10,500 youth held as detainees in
rehabilitation camps and that it was crime to label these children as
ex-combatants as they were our children. Mr. Anadasangaree warned
the government to beware about depending on KP and his followers. The
money which he is now claiming to invest in Sri Lankas development
activities was earned through illegal or sinful means. I dont think the
country should be made part of these sins by using the money for
development, he added. Mr. Anandasangaree said even though the
living conditions of civilians in Jaffna were improving the plight of
those in Vavuniya and Kilinochchi was sad. The government must do
more to upgrade the living standards of these people as well, he
said. Mr. Anandasangaree said maintaining a high military presence
in the North and plans to establish Army camps be reviewed by the
government. What is the meaning of liberalization if the
civilians are there continue to remain under a military presence? It is a
case of people being tossed from the frying pan into the fire, he said.
Most of the homes are still occupied by the military. They are not
asking for much, they only want to be released from camps and for their
homes to be returned, he said (Daily
Mirror : 14 Aug 2010).

War crimes allegations
based on lies - Attorney-at-law - Senior
Attorney-at-law S L Gunasekera yesterday said the allegations of war
crimes in the final days of the war on terrorism are completely based on
lies. He said that being a soldier does not have lesser rights than
civilians. Gunasekera added that the Government risked soldiers lives
by allowing them to enter small pockets of land where civilians and LTTE
leaders were trapped in the final stages of the war on terrorism. He
added that the Government had been left with three options at the later
stage of war where the civilians and the LTTE cadres were trapped to small
areas on the banks of Nandikadal lagoon. Gunasekera said the Government
could have bombarded and destroyed civilians and the terrorists and the
war at large would have been ended within few days. He said the Government
never adopted such an option. Gunasekera was of the view that the
Government would have come to an agreement with the LTTE in the form of a
CFA and given them a chance to regroup and strengthen them militarily. He
said that the Government did not do that too. He said the Government
adopted the final option to enter the narrow strip of land where the LTTE
and the civilians were trapped through landmines and booby traps.
Gunasekera was of the opinion that the video clip telecast by Channel 04
is a canard. This video clip depicts two men in military attire shooting
naked men. He added that there is no evidence to prove the victims
identity. Gunasekera opined that the LTTE had a very comprehensive
propaganda campaign against the government and the country. He opined that
the Governments propaganda campaign was weak and the State policy on
the LTTE was mainly dependent on the Government in power. He said
Governments tagged the LTTE as terrorists during the time the Government
is engaged in military offensives against the Organisation. The LTTE
terrorists were branded as friends when they are in talks with the
Government, he added. Gunasekera scoffed at the views of Bernard
Gunatilake who gave evidence to the effect that the CFA caused factions in
the foundation of the LTTE. Gunasekera added that the LTTE continued
kidnapping children from the East. He opined that these were several
reasons that led to the fraction of the LTTE breaking away. Gunasekera
stressed that every inch of land in the country belongs to the people of
the country equally and there cannot be Sinhalese lands and Tamil
lands. He stressed that the PR system does not represent the wishes of the
people at large. Gunasekera proposed an administrative system based on
village committees. He was of the view that people in the villages should
be given pride of place (Daily
News : 14 Aug 2010).

Anandasangaree praises
Forces - TULF Leader V Anandasangaree yesterday
said that Sri Lankan military forces are excellent in terms of
humanitarian assistance. He said they are the best humanitarianwise and
the civilians displaced by terrorist atrocities in the North are well
looked after by them. He stressed the need of setting up civil
administration in the areas affected by the conflict. He was of the view
that the assistance of Government servants who know the area well should
be sought by the Government. Anandasangaree was giving evidence before the
Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission at the Lakshman Kadirgamar
Institute yesterday. He was of the view that there are thousands of
expatriates who are capable and ready to help reconstruction activities in
the North and their assistance should necessarily be obtained rather than
relying on a single person or a handful. He added that the people in the
north are still in fear and they do not like to see even a toy pistol. He
said the possibility of re-emergence of the LTTE or LTTE type
organisations is minimal and not a single shot was heard after the LTTE
leaders death. Anandasangaree was of the opinion that the majority of
combatants detained by the troops are not criminals and they were forcibly
recruited by the LTTE. He stressed the need of having a viable mechanism
that can inquire case by case and ensure their early release. He added
that the Tamil Diaspora did not take any action when the LTTE was
recruiting innocent children of Tamils in the North. The Sinhalese and
Tamils can accommodate each other. The problem is with the leaderships not
the people. My best friends are Sinhalese and Muslims, he said and
added that reconciliation is made easier when each learn the language of
the other. He added that language and ethnic problems go hand in hand (Daily
News : 14 Aug 2010).

Message for Delhi in
Canada Tamil influx - The rumbling volcano of
displaced Tamils in Sri Lanka abruptly erupted half way across the globe
in British Columbia yesterday when a shipload of asylum seekers tumbled
out of a cargo vessel on to the provinces quaint Victoria Island,
triggering an intense debate about Canadas refugee laws which has the
potential to shake up Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harpers minority
government. The row also considerably complicates the task of an Indian
envoy to Sri Lanka to assess Tamil rehabilitation, whose visit was
announced by Union home minister P. Chidambaram a few days ago. The MV Sun
Sea, a Thai ship merely 59m long, carried a human cargo of 500 Tamils in
its cramped hold for over two months in the high seas. Among the asylum
seekers were several recent mothers with babies in arms and
children. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) intercepted MV
Sun Sea with a flotilla of naval frigates and boarded the refugee ship
without incident before being led into port. In October last year, a
cargo vessel carrying 76 Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers arrived in Canada
in what is now feared to have been a trial run for a possible influx of
boat people from areas once controlled by the recently vanquished
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) (Culcutta
Telegraph : 14 Aug 2010).

Lakshman Kadirgamar, five
years on:a personal reminiscence - Dr Dayan Jayatilleka - It
was the laugh, he said. Hed turned his head sharply at the sound of
Mervyns laugh at a sit down dinner at the Grand Oriental Hotel, only to
recall that Mervyn had died earlier that year. My laugh reminded him of my
fathers and took him back to the University tuck shop at Thurstan Road
in the early 50s, he said. That was the beginning of my sustained
encounter with Lakshman Kadirgamar, which lasted from 1999/2000 to 2005.
My father was dead, I had written a piece in defence of Kadirgamar in my
new column in the Virakesari groups Weekend Express when he was
attacked by Anura Bandaranaike, come out in support of President
Kumaratunga in her re-election campaign in late 1999 when the LTTE, Ranil
Wickremesinghe and her erstwhile allies, the peace lobby had banded
together. I was in close contact with Kadirgamar and in touch with several
Ministers during the Tiger offensive on Jaffna in 2000. He soon inducted
me onto the council of management of the Bandaranaike Centre for
International Studies under his Chairmanship (Island
: 14 Aug 2010).

Canadas Acceptance Of
Refugee Ship Could Set Up A Dangerous Precedent Towards Global Security! -
Insight By Sunil Kumar For Lanka Web - It must be the aspiration as well
as expectation of all sensible discerning Canadians that this time around
the refugee ship headed for Canada with over 300 people which is getting
so much publicity on world Newsw will not be granted safe haven in their
beautiful country by its administration on simplistic albeit passionate
grounds of sympathy and various excuses pointing to humanitarian needs, as
research and investigations by the Government of Sri Lanka as well as
other reliable sources qualified to the task indicate that this is a
shipload of terrorists and terrorist supportives. Sadly there are women
and children on board but they will simply have to be deemed victims of
circumstance where some compassion will be needed to deal with them and
something for the Canadian Government to decide on. A very interesting
features item captioned Canada-Bound Refugee Boat Carry Terrorists by
Mr.Alastair Reynard also attests to this likelihood where he addresses
those against the ship entering Canada saying Thanks for the
eye-opening reports on the Canada-Bound ship full of Tamil Terrorists. It
has been known for some time that this is not a ship full of refugees but
a ship of escaping terrorists. In an almost advisory tone it is
suggested by him that Ship-bound Tamil refugees if there is such a
category acceptable to the Canadian Government anymore that is~ need help
to read about this bogus refugee ship thats full of terrorists. A small
excerpt: Perhaps in the media, especially he Toronto Star, probably
would have paid much more attention to any bone fide refugees~ once again
said hypothetically ~ if they had money to pay the smugglers to come to
Canada, or owned laptops with access to Skype and the Internet, like the
bogus Tamil refugees stuck in a boat . It is a shame those poor refugees
in Iraq and Afghanistan lack the media support, or the backing of a global
criminal network like the LTTE, which had been involved in smuggling
Tamils to countries like Canada, with the help of the liberal politicians,
and bleeding-heart newspaper columnists  and well said Mr Reynard where
hopefully the Canadian Govermnet based on such astute observations will
take the sensible option of not permitting them safe haven in Canada and
stick to the no nonsense policies of nations such as Australia, the USA,
the UK and others which do not accept refugees at random! (LankaWeb
: 14 Aug 2010).

IDB assists Kilinochchi
industrial development - The Industrial
Development Board (IDB) will uplift the living standard of unemployed
youth and low income people in the Kilinochchi district and encourage them
to enter into the small and medium scale industries on the instruction of
Traditional Industries and Small Enterprise Development Minister Douglas
Devananda. Industrial Development Board Chairman Udayasiri Kariyavasam,
said the board will fulfil the requirement of sharing knowledge in
entrepreneurship as well as technology transfer by conducting training
programs on selected demandable fields. The Jaffna unemployed graduate
association will assist the IDB to select the target group. The chairman
said technology transfer programs will be on milk production, fruits and
vegetables cultivation, leather and footwear, rexine, grains and sweets (Daily
News : 14 Aug 2010).

LTTE recruited child
soldiers in large number during CFA period - Dr. Wijemanna
- Due to the failure on the part of the international community to make
child rights a condition for financial support to rebuild the war
devastated areas, the LTTE threw a large number of child combatants into
the battle during Eelam war IV, Dr. Hiranthi Wijemanna said. Testifying
before the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission headed by former
Attorney General C. R. de Silva at the Kadirgamar Institute, Dr. Wijemanne
said unfortunately demobilisation of children was not even an issue at the
tripartite discussions between the government, LTTE and the UNICEF.
According to Dr. Wijemanna by 2002, 60 to 70 per cent of LTTE cadres were
children below the age of 18. "Had they been genuinely interested in
a negotiated settlement, they would not have needed fresh recruits",
she said. Dr. Wijemann, the former Chairperson of the National Child
Protection Authority (NCPA), who had the opportunity to visit the LTTE-held
area during the CFA, said the despicable practice of child recruitment
continued until the conclusion of the war in May last year. Since then not
a single child had been abducted or forcibly recruited. The LTTE had
continued child recruitment until the final battle, she said. Responding
to a query by the Commission, Dr. Wijemanne said that the international
community had simply pumped massive amounts of funds for various projects
through the LTTE, though there was no evidence that either children or the
ordinary people really benefited. She said that the LTTE had been the
major beneficiary of the funds made available by international donors,
though the CFA was expected to bring relief to the ordinary people. Dr.
Wijemanne said that the Norwegian-led Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)
had not been trained or equipped to rein in the LTTE (Daily
News : 14 Aug 2010).

The
members of  THE ELDERS should focus their energy and resources
to find the truth of the 91,000 classified documents relating to
human rights violations by USA in Iraq and Afghanistan. This will
help them to keep themselves occupied for the rest of their lives.

Western
countries encouraging bogus LTTE asylum seekers.

LTTE uses refugee system
to lure supporters - Former Canadian HC 'Around
8000 trained terrorists in Toronto' - Tamil Tigers have made
"particular use of the refugee system to get in their supporters,
they have operated a lot of the people-smuggling that got people in over
the last 20 years", Ottawa's former High Commissioner to Sri Lanka,
Martin Collacott, said. "And at one point, the Toronto Police
task force estimated there were 8,000 trained Tamil terrorists in Toronto
alone, so, it's been used both for just getting people in who wouldn't
qualify normally by international standards, but also for getting
terrorists into Canada. And it's expected, it's believed that there are
quite a few Tamil Tigers, or their supporters, on this ship" he said
in an interview with CTV. He said Tamil migrants are making the
choice to come to Canada because it is seen as "the easiest mark in
the world" for prospective refugees of any background.
"And even if you're turned down, the chances are we won't be able to
remove you. We remove a few, but we've had people who have been turned
down 20 years ago, but are still appealing," he said Refugees are
given state-funded lawyers, welfare and health care, which leaves the
Canadian system as "the Rolls Royce of claiming refugee status,"
Collacott said. For Tamil people, Canada is an especially desirable
destination because of its large Tamil population and the high-rate of
success for Tamil migrants over the years. "Once they are in
Canadian waters, they can't be turned back. Legally, we cannot turn them
away, and it would be a very bad precedent for Canada to do
so." There have been reports suggesting that the MV Sun Sea
could be carrying some members of the Tamil Tigers -- a banned terrorist
organization in Canada -- who could be travelling alongside legitimate
refugees. In June 2000, the National Post reported that Toronto
police believed up to 8,000 Tamils living in the city held links to Tamil
terror groups, including the Tamil Tigers. The MV Sun Sea is the
second-such ship to make its way to Canadian soil since May last
year. The first ship to arrive was the Ocean Lady which landed in
Victoria last October, carrying 76 Tamil men who applied for refugee
status. Courtesy: Policy Research & Information Unit of the
Presidential Secretariat of Sri Lanka (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 13 Aug 2010).

Re: How we should deal
with the Tamil boat people - by Jaliya
Wickremarachchi Canadian Sri Lankans Against Terrorism - Editor The
Toronto Star One, Young St Toronto, ON Dear Editor, It is quite
interesting how Mr. Lorne Waldman, a well-known immigration lawyer in
Toronto, is trying his utmost to justify the arrival of another boat load
of Tamil Tiger suspects, less than a year after the first boat that
brought 76 of so-called Tamil refugees. None of us are surprised of
Mr. Waldmans all out effort to justify the newest arrival, since he has
a vested interest in this matter, as he is one of the immigration lawyers
who will be defending many of these Tamil migrants. He already represents
almost 25 members from the previous boat that arrived last year. I must
also point out that Mr. Waldman is one of the four-member panel hastily
assembled by the pro-LTTE, Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC), along with Mr.
David Ross -the head of the Canadian Human Rights Voices (CHRV  http://www.chrv.ca/committee.php),
another LTTE front association, run by a group of Tamil-Canadians to lobby
the Canadian authorities, and the media to garner public sympathy and
support for the bogus refugees. It also does not surprise us, the Sri
Lankan-Canadians, who know the ground reality in Sri Lanka well and the
history of the LTTE activities in Canada, that immigration lawyers, such
as Mr. Waldman, have been defending many LTTE members and their criminal
activities in Canada, as it is an extremely lucrative business for the
immigration lawyers like him (LankaWeb
: 15 Aug 2010).

Were terrorists on the
Tamil ship? - It could be months before each of
the 490 Tamils aboard the MV Sun Sea is identified, but the Conservative
government and Sri Lankan officials have already said they include
terrorists and suspected human-smugglers. In fact, Public Safety Minister
Vic Toews even says their arrival Friday in British Columbia "may
well be co-ordinating this activity as part of a larger enterprise."
The evidence to back that concern was not readily available Friday. Public
Safety officials did not return a call requesting statistics on how many
Tamil migrants have been found to have terrorist links in the past 30
years. Canada Border Service Agency was unable to provide figures Friday.
But the ship was believed to be captained by a man called "Vinod,"
described by some experts as a well-known member of the Tamil Tigers who
has links to last year's Ocean Lady, a rusting cargo ship carrying 76
passengers that docked in Victoria (Vancouver
Sun : 13 Aug 2010).

Canada is
ripe for exploitation - A Thai vessel packed
with Tamils which arrived in British Columbia on Friday demonstrates that
Canadian immigration law is in dire need of improvement. Without a fix,
our country risks becoming the refuge of choice for queue-jumpers and
shady characters with ulterior motives, to the detriment of both Canadians
and honest asylum seekers. There can be little doubt that some of
the passengers aboard may have legitimate refugee claims. The terrorist
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), who waged a three decade struggle
against Sri Lanka's Sinhalese majority to establish an autonomous Tamil
homeland, were decisively defeated last spring. Since then, the victorious
government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa has not behaved as decently as
it could have to the country's Tamils. Still, this does not give the
latter leave to flout Canadian law. Worse, there are plenty of
allegations that the Sun Sea is trafficking refugees to raise money for
the Tigers' remnants and may even be transporting diehard members of the
LTTE looking to rebuild their group abroad. Canada's immigration
apparatus is too sluggish to deal with this situation as it should. It can
take up to eight years to process an individual refugee claim, giving
dubious claimants ample time to put down roots here and making it harder
to find and deport them if they are rejected. This latest batch -- a
previous group arrived in similar fashion last October and have been
allowed to stay --needs to be processed as swiftly as possible so that the
genuine refugees can be sorted out and the rest deported as quickly as
possible. To prevent a repeat, future vessels could be turned back
short of Canadian waters. Authorities knew the Sun Sea was approaching
long in advance but did not directly intervene until the ship was well
within our maritime borders. But this alone will not deter people.
Immigration policy must be tightened to send a clear message about what
Canada will and will not tolerate, and Australia's example provides a
model to be examined for adaptation in some form here. The Liberal
government of former Aussie prime minister John Howard was hugely
successful in reducing the number of illegal arrivals by establishing
offshore processing centres on Pacific islands in which people were
interned until their claims were established. Canada is not so blessed
with convenient offshore real estate, but coastal military bases could
suffice (Calgary
Herald : 13 Aug 2010).

Tamil
migrant ship docks in Canada - A rusting cargo
ship crammed with hundreds of Tamil asylum seekers from Sri Lanka docked
at a Canadian navy base on Friday after a grueling three-month journey.
The government confirmed that there were 490 people aboard the ship, the
MV Sun Sea, and that the ship had declared them to be refugees. But Canada
forced them to dock at a military base, saying there were concerns that
Tamil extremists could be on board. Gary Anandasangaree, a lawyer with the
Canadian Tamil Congress, was on the scene as the boat arrived and said he
couldn't believe how a ship just 194 feet long (59 meters) could be
carrying so many people. "It clearly gives us an idea of the type of
conditions that could have been inside. Very cramped, given the
size," Anandasangaree said. Initial images of the vessel showed women
and children, some smiling, aboard the tarp-draped freighter.
Anandasangaree said the tarps may be used to shield the identities of
those on board. He suggested there could be reprisals against family
members still in Sri Lanka if the identities of the refugees were
revealed. People began to leave the ship several hours after it docked.
The first two men were followed by a woman who had to be helped ashore by
officials. Children followed her. Some were taken away on a stretcher. All
were shielded from the view of cameras by black umbrellas. Ambulances were
seen coming and going from the dockside and buses are also standing by.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said again Friday that the government has
concerns that there may be members of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil
Eelam, or Tamil Tigers, on board and that they're coordinating a human
smuggling operation. Canada has labeled the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist
group since 2006 (WOKV).

Suspected human smugglers
and terrorists on MV Sun Sea, minister saysSome would-be refugees taken to
hospital - Canada's Public Safety Minister Vic
Toews announced this morning that the 490 Tamil migrants aboard the MV Sun
Sea include suspected human smugglers and terrorists. "We are very
concerned that there are elements of the LTTE and the Tamil Tigers on
board this vessel," Toews said. In a press conference at Canadian
Forces Base Esquimalt where the migrant ship is presently docked, Toews
said that the "suspected human smugglers and terrorists did not come
to Canada by accident," but rather chose this country because of its
reputation for leniency in accepting foreign migrants and refugees. All
criminals on-board, he said, "will be prosecuted to the full extent
of the law." "We want to send a very clear message not only to
individuals currently involved but to those watching this situation that
this is an act Canada does not encourage," Toews said. The best way
to deal with the arrival of the MV Sun Sea was for Canadian authorities to
board the vessel in Canadian waters, he said, which is what members of the
RCMP, Department of Defense and Canadian Border Services Agency did
Thursday evening, Toews confirmed. He said Canadian authorities could not
have turned back the vessel on the high seas because of the obvious
difficulties of proving a crime will occur under Candian law outside of
Canada's jurisdiction. "This particular situation we believe to be a
part of a larger human smuggling and human trafficking enterprise. I don't
view this as an isolated independent act." Asked to confirm reports
that more Tamil migrant boats were already headed for Canada from Sri
Lanka, Toews replied: "This particular situation is being observed by
others." (Vancour
Sun : 13 Aug 2010).

Question G.L, Karuna -
The opposition United National Party (UNP) has called on the Lessons
Learns and Reconciliation Commission appointed by President Mahinda
Rajapaksa, to question External Affairs Minister G.L Peiris and Karuna
Amman as they played a key role in the peace talks during the UNP regime.
G.L Peiris was part of the then UNP government delegation at the peace
talks while Karuna Amman represented the LTTE
(Daily Mirror : 13 Aug 2010).

Criminals likely planned
migrant ship: expert Very few could have planned such a sophisticated
operation, says UBC prof - A criminal mastermind
must be behind the Thai freighter carrying up to 500 Tamil migrants to the
British Columbia shores, according to a human-trafficking expert. UBC
professor Benjamin Perrin said Thursday only a small number of
organizations could manage such a sophisticated and large-scale migrant
smuggling operation that would be able to collect debts ranging in the
tens of thousands of dollars for passage owed by those aboard the MV Sun
Sea. This is not some sort of humanitarian flotilla run by the Red
Cross, said Perrin who in 2009 was honoured by the U.S. Department of
State as one of nine international heroes working to end human
trafficking. This is likely a criminal enterprise operated by current
or former terrorists. He acknowledged a strong possibility the ship,
reportedly carrying men, women and children, is under control of terrorist
organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which the Sri Lankan
government defeated in 2009 after a three decade civil war. Nevertheless,
there are still assets in terms of these sorts of vessels, Perrin said.
LTTE is unique among terrorist organizations worldwide because it is
the only terrorist organization, during its long-term conflict in Sri
Lanka, able to ship in and assemble aircraft which its used for
bombing. This is a very sophisticated organization and these organizations
dont vanish. Canadian Tamil Congress spokesman David Poopalapillai
said smugglers taking advantage of human misery were responsible for the
voyage, but stopped short of naming LTTE as those manning the ship (Toronto
Sun : 13 Aug 2010).

LESSONS TO
BE LEARNT BY CANADA, NORWAY ET AL BY FOLLWING THE LESSONS LEARNT
COMMISSION IN SRI LANKA - Breaking news early
morning - " A ship suspected to be carrying over 200 Lankan refugees
has entered Canadian waters and is being escorted by the Navy to British
Columbia" - says it all! This is not the first time this has
happened. Last October, a ship carrying 76 migrants was intercepted in
Canadian waters after crossing the Pacific from Sri Lanka. This group on
board the ship called the Ocean Lady claimed to be fleeing persecution in
Sri Lanka. And even though there were concerns that some on board were
LTTE Tigers, all 76 of them have since been released and their refugee
claims are being processed. And now this second ship is on its merry way,
with even more so-called 'refugees'! This is happening whilst some
Canadians are voicing their concerns of 'preventing terrorists abusing
Canada's refugee system'. Vic Toews, Canadian Public Safety Minister has
recently gone on record that "It's important to send a message that
Canada should not be viewed as an easy entry into North America and that
we are very concerned about security issues. The problem of human
smuggling and illegal migration is a serious one, and the abuse of our
immigration system is something that our government will not
tolerate." He also stated that there was reason to believe that on
board the Thai cargo ship, MV Sun Sea, there were members of the LTTE.
Does this mean, that Canada, home to about 300,000 Tamils, one of the
largest such contingents of Tamils outside of Sri Lanka, finally seeing
the light? Is that why, finally a public official has made a statement
about 'illegal migration' and 'human smuggling' whilst a ship carrying
'asylum seekers' who could be terrorists, is about to enter its territory?
Whilst this is taking place in Canada, the BBC reported that in Oslo, the
capital of Norway - another Tiger haven, three Sri Lankan Tamil men from
rival factions supporting the Tamil Tigers, have been arrested after a
clash at a Hindu religious festival. Among those injured are members of
the Norwegian Council of Tamil Eelam, a pro Tamil Tiger group led by
Nediyavan (a very senior LTTE member, who opposed the appointment of KP as
the successor to lead the LTTE) and the Norwegian Tamil Economical Unit,
further proof that post-LTTE, there is much disunity among the Tamil
Diaspora (Daily
Mirror : 13 Aug 2010).

Canada hospitals, jails
prepare for Sri Lanka refugees - VANCOUVER  A
cargo ship thought to be carrying hundreds of Sri Lankan asylum seekers
neared Canada's western coast Thursday, as advocates for the Tamil
community pressed Ottawa to let them in. Hospitals rushed to prepare beds
and jails readied cells hours ahead of the expected arrival of the MV Sun
Sea, which has thrown a new spotlight on the plight of Sri Lanka's Tamil
minority a year after the island's civil war ended. Between 200 and 500
refugees, including women and children, are believed to be aboard the MV
Sun Sea, a cargo ship flying a Thai flag that reportedly headed to Canada
after being deterred from Australia. Canada has among the world's most
welcoming asylum policies and has a politically active Tamil community,
which urged their adopted country to grant asylum to the boat people. In a
similar incident in October 2009, 76 Tamil refugees arrived on a ship to
Canada where they were held but eventually released after none were
determined to belong to the separatist Tamil Tigers, considered a
terrorist group by most Western nations (Reuters).

5th
Death Anniversary of Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar, the true Patriot

Special Web-Edition of 5th
Death Anniversary of Sri Lanka's former Foreign Minister, Hon Lakshman
Kadirgamer (a well respected Sri Lankan Tamil Leader who fought against
the Tamil Tiger Terrorism).

IT WAS FIRST THE WHITE
CHRISTIANS AGAINST BUDDHIST SRI LANKA AND NOW THE BLACK CHRISTIANS -
by Malin Abeyatunge, Melbourne, Australia - ..... It is quite obvious that
the members of THE ELDERS or the none of the above mentioned people have
an iota of knowledge of the situation before the LTTE was defeated and
aftermath of the war in Sri Lanka. Their statement appears to be based on
hearsay and what the western media and the LTTE Tamil Net websites
reports. Except, Koffi Annan I doubt others have ever visited Sri Lanka
during the terrorist conflict and after the conflict. The Black Christians
are in a vain attempt to compare the apartheid in South Africa with that
of Sri Lankas terrorist conflict, the difference of which is polls
apart. But yet one thing is clear and that is when the Anglo Saxons failed
to destroy Sri Lanka morally, the Black Christians have now teamed up
together in a subtle move to humiliate this small Buddhist democratic
country. We urge the THE ELDERS led by three black Christians to
mind their own business. Anglo-Saxons tried to destroy Sri Lanka with
their coup detat during the final operations against LTTE. Now the
Black Christians have teamed up to give oxygen to the Tamil Diaspora in
their attempt to carve a separate monolithic state for the Tamils in Sri
Lanka in other possible ways. EU thought that they could strangle Sri
Lankas economy by not granting the GSP plus concession but Sri Lankas
economy continues to grow despite all the global financial turmoil. Lastly
may I request the members of  THE ELDERS to focus their energy and
resources to find the truth of the 91000 classified documents relating to
human rights violations by USA in Iraq and Afghanistan. This will help
them to keep themselves occupied for the rest of their lives (LankaWeb
: 12 Aug 2010).

Victoria RCMP on way to
intercept migrant ship, reports say - There have
been reports that five vessels left Esquimalt Harbour early this morning,
presumably to encounter a cargo ship carrying migrants from Thailand. The
MV Sun Sea left Thailand three months ago and Canadian officials were
expecting it was bound for this country's west coast. The vessel, under
its former name M.V. Harin Panich, is shown on a ship tracking website
west of Ucluelet at 7 a.m. There were reports that several RCMP boats
including three cataramans ad two rigid-hull Zodiacs with armed men left
Esquimalt Harbour this morning. As many as 500 illegal migrants, including
women and children are on the MV Sun Sea and there are concerns that some
could be suffering health problems. Three RCMP vessels were in the Inner
Harbour yesterday as part of preparationsfor the ship. Victoria General
Hospital is reopening a ward on its seventh floor to care for patients
from the ship, if necessary (The
Province : 12 Aug 2010).

Refugee ship enters
Canadian waters - By Asoka Weerasinghe - ... You
report that A ship believed to be carrying as many as 500 Tamil
refugees is being escorted by the Canadian navy into British Columbia 
With our Governments whimpish response to the earlier ship Ocean
Ladys 76 illegal Tamil migrants among which according to the
Canadian Border Agency Report were 25 hardcore Tamil Tiger terrorists.
None of the 76 Tamils on that ship have been deported so far nor a single
member of the crew of the ship have been arrested and charged by the
Canadian authorities. It is pertinent to note that since Australia
suspended processing Tamil refugee applicants under pressure from the Sri
Lankan government, no boats have headed towards Australia and instead have
been sailing towards the Canadian shores, by-passing Indias Tamil Nadu
where 65 million of their Tamil brethren live. Unless Canada takes a firm
decision on these illegal Tamil migrants dotted with hardcore Tamil
Tigers, there will be a string of other ships carrying Tamils heading
towards Canada, as this is part of a global criminal network and a million
dollar business. And as reported in Asian Tribune (August 11) the key
accomplice in this global scam was arrested by the police in Kerala,
India. According to the news report, Sundara Raja Sivakumar, a Tamil with
links to the Tamil Tigers was operating a travel business based in Chennai,
the capital of the Indian state Tamil Nadu in South India. This human
trafficking operations have been accomplished with funds supplied by the
pro-Tamil Tiger Diaspora living in Canada and other Western countries (LankaWeb
: 12 Aug 2010).

Tamil ship due to hit
Canada on Thursday - A ship believed to be
carrying up to 500 Tamil migrants has arrived in Canada's "exclusive
economic zone" and could enter territorial waters as early as
Thursday, when it is expected to be intercepted by authorities amid
concerns there may be Tamil Tigers on board. The MV Sun Sea  a 59-metre
Thai cargo ship that Canada and the United States have been monitoring
throughout the summer and which may be carrying members of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada  was on
Wednesday night being tracked by a Canadian navy warship, officials said.
The ship arrived within the 200-nautical-mile zone that extends beyond
Canada's territorial waters in the wake of unconfirmed reports that one
voyager had died en route. A government official said authorities are
"expecting [the MV Sun Sea] in the Straits of Juan de Fuca early
Friday morning." It is anticipated the Canadian Border Services
Agency will at some point board the ship before it is directed to Victoria
harbour. Security experts in the United States are also keeping a watchful
eye: James Clad, the former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defence for
South and Southeast Asia, told The Washington Post he thought the MV Sun
Sea was part of a bid by the Tamil Tigers to "create a network again
and play the trans national terrorist game." "I'm not an
advocate for sending people back to their deaths, but that is just not
happening in Sri Lanka," he said. "I've helped a lot of migrants
before, but I know a scam when I see one." Also anticipating the
ship's arrival, although with an entirely different view, is a Tamil
migrant who journeyed to Canada in much the same way as those aboard the
MV Sun Sea. The man, who can't be identified because his immigration
proceedings are ongoing, said Tamils are "fleeing because we can't
survive" and that "the Canadian government looked into evidence
and then freed us."
(Financial Post).

Boatload of Tamils
getting closer to Canada - Its not a welcome
mat, but Canada has rolled out an organized reception for a suspected
Tamil migrant ship that is moving closer to our shores. And while there
are concerns of dangerous criminals hidden among refugees onboard, one
expert warns the voyage was likely marked down in a ledger as a complete
success for terrorist elements as soon as the boat started the journey.
The Canadian Navy has sent out vessels to meet the 188-foot Thai
registered cargo ship, the MV Sun Sea, which may hold as many as 500 Tamil
refugees. Its expected to land, under the watchful eye of RCMP
officers, either late Thursday night or early Friday morning. Officials
have set up large white processing tents at CFB Esquimalt, near this B.C.
city, but some passengers onboard the rouge ship may be shipped to an area
hospital. Doctors and staff at Victoria General Hospital have been put on
alert, following reports that  after months at sea  some onboard the
Sun Sea could be sick. Tuberculosis is just one possibility and at least
one death may have taken place on the ship. A memo from Norma Jones,
emergency management corporate director points out to hospital workers:
Any passenger who requires medical services will be kept completely
separate from the regular patient population and we do not
anticipate any significant impact on our normal provision of services at
VGH. But the looming arrival of the battered and hulking ship has
caused unease in federal political circles, as well as among many
Canadians, due to fears the vessel may be carrying  among innocent
women and children  hardened criminals and members of the outlawed
Tamil Tigers terrorist group. Benjamin Perrin, an assistant professor in
the Faculty of Law at the University of B.C. and an expert on human
trafficking, told QMI Agency that Canadians need to be clear on what
ultimately fuelled the dark voyage. This is not some sort of UN
humanitarian flotilla, he said, adding the trip could only have been
taken on by a sophisticated criminal organization, such as the Tamil
Tigers  also known as the LTTE (Toronto
Sun : 12 Aug 2010).

Govt. responds to US
report - The Sri Lankan Government today
responded to the US State Department report released on August 11, 2010,
showing that Sri Lanka has not yet conducted an effective investigation
into laws-of-war violations by government forces and the LTTE in the final
stages of war (Daily
News : 12 Aug 2010).

Tigers missed mega
development opportunity  Amb. Gunatilleke - Former
head of the Peace Secretariat Ambassador Bernard Gunatilleke on Wednesday
(Aug 11) said the LTTE had missed an opportunity to share the credit with
the government for a mega development drive in the Northern and Eastern
Provinces during the Norwegian-arranged CFA. Ambassador Gunatilleke said
that a few weeks before the LTTE quit negotiations in April 2003, the
government and the LTTE had agreed on some 480 foreign funded projects in
the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The World Bank had been ready to
facilitate the projects, he said, adding that some countries pledged funds
even before they finalized the arrangements. But, shortly thereafter, they
pulled out of the entire process, he said, blaming the LTTE for walking
away from the peace process. The veteran diplomat alleged that the LTTE
quit the negotiating process on flimsy grounds. Commenting on the ISGA
(Interim Self Governing Authority) demanded by the LTTE in October 2003 as
a prerequisite for a return to the negotiating table, Ambassador
Gunatilleke emphasized the ISGA could not have been granted by the
government. He was appearing before the Lessons Learnt Commission headed
by former Attorney General C. R. de Silva meeting at the Kadirgamar
Institute. Responding to a query by the commission, Ambassador Gunatilleke
said that the LTTE had engineered the defeat of Ranil Wickremesinghe at
the November, 2005 presidential election as a victory for Mahinda
Rajapaksa would have justified their decision to resume an all out war.
The diplomat asserted the LTTE had felt that the perception that Rajapaksa
had been a hardliner would help their cause. Gunatilleke said that
had the LTTE succeeded in their bid to cripple Trincomalee harbour in
August 2006, Jaffna defences would have collapsed (Island
: 12 Aug 2010).

Sri Lanka rejects US
claim it failed to probe war crimes - The
government yesterday rejected US assertion that it had failed to probe
alleged war crimes during the eelam war IV. A senior government spokesman
told The Island that a report by the US State Department, presented to
Congress, which evaluated the effectiveness of measures taken by Sri Lanka
to investigate incidents during the recent conflict, had no basis. The
following is the full text of a statement issued by the Information
Department in response to US report: "The Government of Sri Lanka has
received the text of the report by Ambassador Rapp of the US State
Department to Congress titled "Report to Congress on measures taken
by the Government of Sri Lanka and international bodies to investigate
incidents during the recent conflict in Sri Lanka, and evaluating the
effectiveness of such efforts." The Government wishes in this regard
to observe that in May 2009, Sri Lanka defeated the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE), recognized globally as a brutal terrorist
organization. The conflict situation had a devastating effect on the
people of Sri Lanka and the Government has set a vigorous goal of
rebuilding the nation to move forward into a new era of peace and
prosperity. The Government of Sri Lanka acknowledges that the lessons
which may be drawn from the past could contribute to true reconciliation,
and is committed to a rapid process to achieve this. President Mahinda
Rajapaksa has appointed an independent Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation
Commission. The work of the Commission is now underway and is dedicated to
fairness and impartiality. Furthermore, the Government has almost
completed the resettlement of all displaced persons and continues to
support their livelihood. Also, in the past few months, the Government has
repealed most of the emergency regulations that were necessary during the
conflict situation." (Island
: 12 Aug 2010).

Tamil Tigers' entry into
Canada feared - A ship carrying over 250 Sri
Lankan Tamils, reportedly including members of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Ealam (LTTE), is set to enter Vancouver, authorities said on
Wednesday. Since the LTTE - which was destroyed last year by the Sri
Lankan forces - is a banned organisation in both Canada and the US, the
impending arrival of the ship has raised alarms bells here since members
of banned terror organisations are not allowed to enter Canada. The LTTE
was banned in Canada in 2006. Canadian Public Safety MinisterVic Toews
said, "I don't want to comment on the operational details, but I can
assure you that we are concerned about who is on that ship and why they
might be coming to Canada. "There is reason to believe that a listed
terrorist entity, the LTTE, may be involved in organizing and carrying out
this activity. The LTTE, I remind you, is an organization that has engaged
in the widespread use of suicide bombings against civilian targets in Sri
Lanka, and used extortion and intimidation to raise funds within the
Canadian Tamil community." The Thai cargo ship MV Sun Sea carrying
the Sri Lankan Tamils was within 200 nautical miles of Canadian
territorial waters Wednesday, authorities said. Two jails in the Vancouver
area are being readied to accommodate the asylum seekers. This will the
second ship to enter Canada bringing Sri Lankan Tamils since the defeat of
the LTTE. Last October, 76 Tamil asylum-seekers landed here on board the
ship called Ocean Lady. Most of them are now living in Toronto, pending
their asylum case. Canadian Tamil CongressspokesmanDavid Poopalapillai
said Wednesday that "as a compassionate country" Canada should
treat new asylum seekers sympathetically because of the dire situation in
Sri Lanka. Even as Canada - which has been accused of being soft on
terrorism - grapples with the problem, well-know terrorism expert Rohan
Gunaratna, who heads the International Centre for Political Violence and
Terrorism in Singapore, says there are many Tamil Tigers among those on
board the MV Sun Sea (Times
of India : 12 Aug 2010).

Memories of Lakshman
Kadirgamar  The Quintessential Sri Lankan -
Life is not without its tragedies and almost all of us, in the course of
our human sojourn on earth, are called upon to endure our share of these
tragedies. Just as much as we individually suffer indignities and ordeals,
so do the countries of the world. And I am now absolutely convinced that
it is Sri Lankas enormous tragedy and misfortune that Lakshman
Kadirgamar was compelled to take leave of us before he could help put Sri
Lanka right after the end of the brutal reign of Velupillai Prabhakaran
and his band of Liberation Tigers! I recall vividly the last hours
of 12 August, 2005, the day Lakshman Kadirgamar died at the hands of a
suspected LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) assassin. Amidst his
crowded life as Sri Lankas Foreign Minister and Senior Advisor to the
President on International Affairs (the latter post he held in the brief
period of his political career when he did not hold the portfolio of
foreign affairs), Kadirgamar found the time to give exemplary leadership
to the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) by serving as
Chairman of the Centres Council of Management. In the latter capacity,
the late Minister added immeasurable value to the BCISs traditional
offerings and initiated several new ones. Among the noteworthy fresh
offerings were two that were especially dear to his heart and by means of
the completion of which he anticipated giving to Sri Lanka and the world
something all of us could be proud of: the first of these was the
establishment of a quality new journal under BCIS auspices and the other
the commissioning of a classic study of the art of Stanley Kirinde,
Kadirgamars contemporary at Trinity College, Kandy and at the
University of Ceylon (Island
: 12 Aug 2010).

Ship suspected with
illegal immigrants: Lanka, Canada on alert - The
Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa and Security Agencies in Colombo have
been in close contact with authorities in Canada following reports in the
media about M/V Sun Sea which is reportedly heading towards the East Coast
of Canada carrying over 200 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka. The High
Commissioner in Ottawa Chitranganee Wagiswara met Canadian Citizenship,
Immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney yesterday and discussed
mutual concerns on illegal immigration and human smuggling from Sri Lanka
which are linked to LTTE operations outside the country. The High
Commission also had extensive discussions with officials of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade Department, Citizenship and Immigration
Ministry Canadian Boarder Services Agency Royal Canadian Mounted Police
and Canadian Security and Intelligence Service. The Canadian authorities
were briefed on the activities of the LTTE elements resorting to criminal
activities through front organizations. Their attention has been drawn to
the threats to international and national security arising from
transnational crime which includes terrorism, drug trafficking and human
smuggling and the need for greater international cooperation at the
diplomatic as well as operational level to combat these threats to
national security (Daily
News ; 12 Aug 2010).

A Man Who Loved his
Motherland - Today marks the fifth death
anniversary of a Sri Lankan Hero, a great son of mother Lanka, Lakshman
Kadirgamar. The service he rendered to Sri Lanka is written for ever in
the books of history. The peace Sri lanka has achieved today would have
been not possible without his dedicated contribution in the international
arena. After a distinguished career as a lawyer and international
humanitarian, he served Sri Lanka as the Foreign Minister until he was
assassinated by a LTTE sniper on the 12th of August 2005. As a Tribute to
this great Sri Lankan, we the editors at Sri lanka Watch wishes to
re-publish an article about Lakshman Kadirgamar written by Bandula
Jayasekara in The Island newspaper on15th August 2005 (Sri
Lanka Watch : 12 Aug 2010).

Two
more shiploads of LTTE bogus asylum seekers may set sail for Canada

The MV Sun Sea, a
suspected migrant smuggling vessel, is on its way to Canada. On Monday,
August 9, 2010, a terrorism expert warned there could be Tamil Tigers
aboard (The
Star : 10 Aug 2010).

Ship carrying Tamils
headed for B.C.coast - by Asoka Weerasinghe,
Canada - The Editor (Letters) THE OTTAWA CITIZEN; Sir: The ship Sun Sea
with a cargo of 500 Tamils and among them are suspect Tamil Tigers that is
heading for the B.C. coast was predictable as night follows day, after we
let in the 76 Tamils smuggled into Canada on Ocean Lady last
October, of which according to the Canadian Border Services Agency Report,
25 were hardcore Tamil Tiger terrorists. What is also predictable is that
there will be tough Rambo talk by the Minister of Public Safety and the
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration that they will not allow the
vanquished Tamil Tiger terrorists to abuse the Canadian immigration
system. And what is also predictable is that all the 500 illegal migrant
Tamils on Sun Sea will be allowed to apply for refugee status, as
did the 76 who came on Ocean Lady. They know that to enter Canada is
easy as eating a Maple syrup dipped doughnut from Tim Horton. This is not
an isolated incident of Tamil Tigers being brought into Canada illegally,
as this is part of a global criminal network, a million dollar business
thriving out of the remnants of the Tamil Tigers who were defeated
militarily on May 18, 2009, who had accumulated funds up to a billion
dollars in cash and assets around the world. The ship Sun Sea is
owned and operated by the Tamil Tigers, a group of terrorists who were
banned in Canada in April 2006 and captained by Capt.Vinod, who was one of
the two captains that transported several thousand tons of sophisticated
arms and explosives to the north of Sri Lanka from North Korea in that
very ship for the Tamil Tigers during the warring days (LankaWeb
: 11 Aug 2010).

Tamil migrants sick with
TB - A closed ward at a Victoria hospital is
being prepared for dozens of Tamils on a migrant ship heading to the
British Columbia coast. They are believed to have contracted tuberculosis
during the voyage across the Pacific Ocean. Two sources have told the
Toronto Star that its unclear how many of the migrants on board the MV
Sun Sea are sick with TB. An estimated 300 to 500 Tamils are believed to
be on board the cargo ship which has been at sea since at least April.
There were reports late Wednesday evening that the Coast Guard and the
Canadian Navy boarded the vessel after it entered Canadian waters, but
officials would not confirm. On Wednesday afternoon, cleanup crews on a
previously closed ward on the 7th floor of the Victoria General Hospital
were hauling away bags of towels and linens and sanitizing rooms. One of
the sources said a number of migrants on board are very sick and will need
to be hospitalized and quarantined as soon as they land on Canadian
shores. The ward can be accessed through a separate entrance at the
hospital. Another source said at least 100 beds have been readied for the
most sick. All of the migrants, who officials are expecting to make
refugee claims, will undergo a rigorous health examination in an isolated
area as they disembark (The
Star : 11 Aug 2010).

Suspected
people-smuggling ship now in Canadas exclusive economic zone - A
suspected people-smuggling ship carrying upwards of 250 male and female
Tamil migrants has arrived in Canadas exclusive economic zone,
and will likely enter territorial waters later this week where it is
expected to be intercepted by authorities. The MV Sun Sea  a 59-metre
Thai cargo ship which Canada and the U.S. have been monitoring throughout
the summer and which is potentially carrying members of the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada since 2006 
entered within 200 nautical miles of Canadian territorial waters on
Wednesday afternoon, amid unconfirmed reports that one person aboard the
ship passed away during the voyage. This is a deadly, risky journey,
said David Poopalapillai, spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Congress.
And we, as a compassionate country, should reserve judgment on these
people until we know more. Two correctional facilities in northeast
Metro Vancouver  the Fraser Regional Correctional Centre and the
Alouette Correctional Centre for Women  are preparing to house somewhere
in the order of 80 females and 100 males, John Leeburn, a spokesperson
for the District of Maple Ridge, told the National Post earlier this week.
Mr. Leeburn said the district was told the prospective asylum seekers
would likely be housed at the two facilities for somewhere between two and
four months. There are also reports that children are aboard the vessel,
but it was unclear where they would be housed. Earlier this week, Public
Safety Minister Vic Toews singled out marine human smuggling as an emerging
concern and said the government is particularly worried about who is
aboard the MV Sun Sea. I dont want to comment on the operational
details, but I can assure you that we are concerned about who is on that
ship and why they might be coming to Canada, Mr. Toews told guests at
the Economic Club of Toronto on Monday. There is reason to believe that
a listed terrorist entity, the LTTE, may be involved in organizing and
carrying out this activity. The LTTE, I remind you, is an organization
that has engaged in the widespread use of suicide bombings against
civilian targets in Sri Lanka, and used extortion and intimidation to
raise funds within the Canadian Tamil community. (National
Post : 11 Aug 2010).

Lakshman
Kadirgamar 5th Death Anniversary - Lakshman Kadirgamar the Patriot -
By K. Godage, Former Ambassador - Five years have gone by since the
murderous LTTE assassinated this great son of Sri Lanka, who was indeed a
colossus. I was fortunate to have had the privilege of both working
closely with him and also of travelling with him extensively when this
great advocate countered the biased image of our country that was being
projected to the world through adverse propaganda by our enemies. LK, as
those of us in the Ministry referred to him in private, was indeed one of
a kind. He was a superb sportsman, a brilliant lawyer, an intellectual and
above all a principled humanist. He felt deeply for people and above all
for the Tamil people of our land who were suffering under the jackboot of
a dictator, he was steadfastly opposed to the use of violence to achieve
political ends. He always stood for dialogue and compromise. He yearned
for an end to confrontational politics and in many conversations I had
with him he always hoped that the two principal political parties of our
country would work together to solve the national problem. He always
described himself as a Sri Lankan and was four square opposed to any
division of our country. There were many Tamils who described him as a
Colombo Tamil and a traitor. He was a Jaffna Tamil from Manipay and in the
mould of Ponnambalam Ramanathan a true patriot. If at all CBK did anything
right it was to bring LK into politics and appoint him as Foreign
Minister, no role fitted him more than that. He was not only an
intellectual but also an able administrator and a visionary. Whether it
was with our foreign policy or achieving peace at home, he looked beyond
the horizon. He was of the view that the causes of the rebellion at home
had to be addressed, this did not mean that he was opposed to the crushing
of the LTTE, he was totally committed to the crushing of the LTTE, he was
also of the view that International Human Rights Conventions had to be
respected. On many occasions I did hear him tell western counterparts that
our government would never act like terrorists and that the government
would at all times maintain the highest ethical and legal standards, to
him respect for the observance of Human Rights and the Rule of Law had a
sanctity of its own (Island
; 11 Aug 2010).

Lanka war panel begins
work - An internal panel set up to look into the
temporary ceasefire and the last years of civil war between government
troops and the separatist Tamil Tigers began work on Wednesday amid
questions targeting its credibility. The eight-member Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation Commission (LRRC) panel is headed by a former attorney
general. It will begin by recording testimonies from witnesses on five
days in Colombo and for two days in Vavuniya, a town near the final
theatre of battle. President Mahinda Rajapaksa set up the LRRC in May
following intense international pressure to probe human rights abuses
during the war. But the international community, including the UN, US and
the EU, continue to urge an independent, international probe. Wednesdays
session began even as a group of 57 Congressmen in the US wrote a letter
to Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, pushing for an independent
international probe into alleged abuse of human rights and civilian deaths
as the civil war ended in May, 2009. Colombo has already rejected calls
for an international probe and expressed deep displeasure at the
three-member panel set up by UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon to look
into human rights accountability issues during the end of the war. The
terms of reference for the government panel focus on the Norway-brokered
ceasefire between the government and the LTTE, which lasted between
February, 2002 and 2008, January. The breakdown of the ceasefire led to
the resumption of an all-out war, which finally ended in a crushing
military defeat for the Tigers. The LRRC has to report back to Rajapaksa
in the next six months on why the ceasefire broke down and suggest ways of
reconciliation so that a civil war doesnt erupt again (Hindustan
Times : 11 Aug 2010).

UNP felt Tigers could
have been appeased by soft approach: Ambassador Gunatilleke -
Ambassador Bernard Gunatilleke said that the then UNP-led UNF government
felt that Tigers could be gradually won over by somehow keeping them in
the negotiating process. Responding to a query by Rohan Perera, a member
of the Lessons Learnt Commission at the Kadirgamar Institute yesterday,
Ambassador Gunatilleke said that in line with the now disputed strategy
the government did not confront the LTTE. Ambassador Gunatilleke said that
their strategy contributed to the weakening of the group and finally led
to a split in the organisation. The government had felt that longer their
involvement in the negotiating process, weaker they would become, the
former negotiator said, while pointing out their strategy had created the
Karuna factor which brought their downfall. Asked whether Norwegian
facilitators had imposed the CFA on Sri Lanka, Ambassador Gunatilleke
emphasised that there had not been widespread protests against the
agreement. Commenting on the post-war era, Ambassador Gunatilleke said
that a hardcore section of the LTTE would continue to pose a threat and
was unlikely to give up their strategy, though the LTTE no longer retained
a conventional military capability. The veteran career foreign service
officer emphasised the importance in working with the international
community to thwart LTTE plans. Ambassador Gunatilleke alleged that the
LTTE rump was still lobbying politicians and officials in various
countries. He also accused them of targeting various international
agencies, such as the IMF to deny international support to Sri Lanka (Island
; 11 Aug 2010).

Norway blamed for
unwarranted haste in finalising CFA - Ambassador
Gunatilleke says UNP leader Wickremesinghe finalized what had been
initiated by President Kumaratunga - Former head of the Peace Secretariat
Ambassador Bernard Gunatilleke yesterday alleged that there had been a
sense of urgency on the part of the Norwegian government to finalize a
Ceasefire Agreement between then Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghes
government and the LTTE. The veteran diplomat asserted that the Norwegian
facilitators had pushed for the speedy finalization of a written agreement
regardless of Sri Lankas concerns. Testifying before the Lessons Learnt
Commission, at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute for International
Relations and Strategic Studies, Ambassador Gunatilleke said that the
Norwegian facilitators had discussed the text of the CFA with Prime
Minister Wickremesinghe and some members of his cabinet. It is widely
believed that the then UNF heavyweights, Milinda Moragoda, G. L. Peiris
and Rauf Hakeem were those involved in the deliberations. Although none of
them are listed to appear before the Commission at the moment, Defence
Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa will testify on Tuesday (Aug. 17). Although
he was given an opportunity to give evidence in camera, Ambassador
Gunatilleke chose to publicly go on record on the Norwegian-led peace
process. There were representatives from the US, Canadian and Japanese
missions to monitor the proceedings. Responding to a query by the
Commission, Ambassador Gunatilleke said that the Norwegian facilitators
had wanted the government to keep amendments to a minimum. Although the
facilitators had accepted a proposal regarding the Kandy-Jaffna A9, two
key suggestions in relation to child soldiers and freedom to engage in
political activity in LTTE-held territory were rejected. Ambassador
Gunatilleke said that the government felt that political parties hitherto
not allowed to operate in the LTTE-held area, too, should be given access
to coincide with the LTTE launching their political activity in the
government-held area (Island
: 11 Aug 2010).

Prevent terrorists from
abusing Canada's refugee system - Canadian Minister - It
is imperative that Canada prevent terrorist organizations from abusing the
country's refugee system', said Canadian Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.
He said the Tigers have used suicide bombings against civilians in Sri
Lanka, as well as extortion and intimidation to raise funds within
Canada's Tamil community. "It's important to send a message that
Canada should not be viewed as an easy entry into North America and that
we are very concerned about security issues," Toews said. "The
problem of human smuggling and illegal migration is a serious one, and the
abuse of our immigration system is something that our government will not
tolerate," he added. Canada is home to about 300,000 Tamils, one of
the largest such populations outside Sri Lanka and India, Sun Herald
reported. Canada's top security official said Monday he was getting
regular briefings on a ship of asylum seekers from Sri Lanka that could be
carrying terrorists. Canadian Public Safety Minister said there was reason
to believe members of the LTTE are on the Thai cargo ship headed for
Canada, reported Sun Herald. The MV Sun Sea is expected to reach the
Pacific coast province of British Columbia this week. The US Coast Guard
also was monitoring the ship. "I can assure you that we are concerned
about who is on that ship and why they might be coming," Toews said
at a luncheon hosted by the Economic Club of Toronto, where he singled out
marine human smuggling as a top national security concern. The Tamil
Tigers have been outlawed in Canada as a terrorist group since 2006.John
Leeburn, a spokesman for the District of Maple Ridge outside Vancouver,
said two local prisons - one for men and one for women - were preparing to
make room for the refugees. Corrections officers and sheriffs at the
prisons have been told to be ready for up to 500 Tamil migrants or
refugees in the coming days, most of them men. A local corrections union
official, Dean Purdy, said the group would include about 60 women and 40
children. Last October, a ship carrying 76 Sri Lankan migrants was
intercepted in Canadian waters after crossing the Pacific from Sri Lanka.
The group on board the Ocean Lady claimed to be fleeing persecution. But
there were concerns some had links to the Tamil Tigers. The 76 Sri Lankan
migrants from that ship have since been released and their refugee claims
will be being processed over the next two years (Daily
News ; 11 Aug 2010).

HFC Jaffna, a national
school - The Holy Family Convent Jaffna has been
upgraded as a National school with effect from August 5. This convent
functioned separately as a Tamil and English convent and has now been
amalgamated as Jaffna Holy Family Convent and upgraded as a National
School at the request of the parents and the Bishop of Jaffna Mgr. Dr.
Thomas Saundranayagam. The School Development society and the parents
organized a function at the school to celebrate the occasion. This is the
only Catholic girls school in the peninsula to be upgraded as a National
school (Daily News
; 11 Aug 2010).

LTTE did not develop
single school in 30 years - Namal Rajapaksa, MP - Tharunyata
Hetak Organization President and Hambantota Parliamentarian Namal
Rajapaksa stated that the LTTE had not developed a single school in the
Kilinochchi District although they dominated the area for 30 years.
He made this observation on Monday at Bharathi Maha Vidyalaya in
Kilinochchi at a ceremony to distribute 120,000 exercise books among the
children of 82 schools reopened in the Kilinochchi District. The
books were donated with the funds of Tharunyata Hetak organization.
He also granted a token package of books at the ceremony held at Bharathi
Maha Vidyalaya in Kilinochchi. MP Namal Rajapaksa and MP Uditha
Lokubandara visited 13 schools in Kilinochchi on Monday to find out their
requirements and planned to visit more schools in the Kilinochchi District
during this week. Parliamentarian Rajapaksa stated that the LTTE had
used the schools for military training and it was a clear indication of
its leaders barbarianism. As the LTTE destroyed a large number of educated
Tamil people who loved the country it also retarted the progress of the
educated Tamil people by ruining their education (Daily
News : 11 Aug 2010).

SL-Canada talks over
illegal immigration - While claiming that both
Sri Lanka and Canada were on alert about a ship MV Sun Sea suspected
to be carrying illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka, the government yesterday
said Sri Lanka held discussions on illegal immigration and human smuggling
from Sri Lanka which were linked to LTTE operations outside the
country. The High Commissioner in Ottawa met Mr. Jason Kenney,
Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism of Canada and
discussed mutual concerns on illegal immigration and human smuggling from
Sri Lanka which are linked to LTTE operations outside the country, the Sri
Lankan High Commission in Canada said.. Media reports recently said
that M/V Sun Sea which was reportedly heading towards the East Coast
of Canada carrying over 200 illegal immigrants from Sri Lanka. The
Sri Lanka High Commission in Ottawa and the relevant Security Agencies in
Colombo have been in close contact with the relevant authorities in Canada
on this issue. The High Commission also had extensive discussions
with the officials of the Department of Foreign Affairs &
International Trade, Ministry of Citizenship & Immigration, the
Canadian Boarder Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
and the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service (CSIS). The
Canadian authorities have been briefed on the activities of the LTTE
elements who are resorting to criminal activities through front
organizations (Daily
Mirror : 11 Aug 2010).

Please help the flood
victims of Pakistan instead of harassing Sri Lanka -
by Ben silva - Attention of Mr Ban Ki Moon Secretary General, UN - Please
help the flood victims of Pakistan instead of harassing Sri Lanka - It is
generally thought that the proposed investigative panel on Sri Lanka is to
harass Sri Lanka and its leaders for having close ties with China,
Pakistan and Iran. As Mahinda Gunasekera [6] pointed out, the proposed
panel is unlikely to find any thing significant. Why on earth would Mr
Moon investigate Sri Lanka when there are more prominent human rights
violators [3]. Wikileaks have given all the evidence of human rights
violations of USA and UK and over one million civilians have been
unlawfully and illegally killed in Iraq due to the adventure of USA and UK
to control Iraqi oil assets. The plot and harassment against Sri Lanka is
complex and some issues are discussed below. When dealing with Sri Lanka,
it appears that Western nations have a hidden agenda [1],[2],[4],[5].
Western nations exported terrorism, for example by allowing LTTE to have
its headquarters in UK and then turning a blind eye to fundraising by LTTE.
Further, the export of terrorism was fueled by Western countries giving
bogus refugees citizenship of their countries and at the same time
discriminating against the Sinhalese. It is hypocritical of UK to ask
Pakistan to stop exporting terror when Western nations including UK were
exporting terror by turning a blind eye to LTTE fund raising and
propaganda (LankaWeb
: 11 Aug 2010).

Tamil
Tigers pair fly in to have baby

Tories set sights on
Tamil ship bound for B.C. - The Canadian
government made clear on Monday it is worried about who is aboard the
cargo ship reportedly smuggling 200 Tamil migrants bound for British
Columbia, and pronounced that it is "important to send a message that
Canada should not be viewed as an easy entry into North America."
Speaking at the Economic Club of Toronto, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews
singled out marine human smuggling as an "emerging" concern and
vowed that the government is working to equip officials with the
"physical and legal means to prevent illegal migration and human
smuggling." His comments come amid reports that human smugglers are
monitoring how Canada deals with the arrival of the 59-metre Thai vessel
known as the MV Sun Sea, which is slated to enter Canadian waters within
weeks, if not days. "I don't want to comment on the operational
details, but I can assure you that we are concerned about who is on that
ship and why they might be coming to Canada," Mr. Toews told guests
at the luncheon on Monday. "The problem of human smuggling and
illegal migration is a serious one, and the abuse of our immigration
system is something that our government will not tolerate." The MV
Sun Sea, which authorities have been monitoring all summer, is potentially
carrying members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist
group outlawed in Canada. "There is reason to believe that a listed
terrorist entity, the LTTE, may be involved in organizing and carrying out
this activity," Mr. Toews said. "The LTTE, I remind you, is an
organization that has engaged in the widespread use of suicide bombings
against civilian targets in Sri Lanka, and used extortion and intimidation
to raise funds within the Canadian Tamil community." Although he said
it is important that Ottawa send a clear message about its concern for
people-smuggling, John Thompson, a security expert and president of the
Toronto-based Mackenzie Institute, said it will be difficult for the
government to broadcast any such signal (National
Post ; 10 Aug 2010).

Is suspected migrant ship
carrying terrorists or refugees? - Weeks after
it was turned away from Australia, a Thai cargo ship believed to be
carrying about 200 illegal migrants from Sri Lanka is now expected to
reach Canada any day. The question is: Are those aboard terrorists or
genuine refugees? Thats the same question that was raised in October
when a ship with 76 migrants on board arrived off Vancouver Island. Most
of them are now living in Toronto. As Canada monitors the arrival of the
MV Sun Sea, a shrill propaganda war has broken out between the Sri Lankan
government and Torontos large Tamil community. Most of them are
hardcore LTTE people (Tamil Tigers), Sumith Dassanayake of the Sri
Lankan High Commission in Ottawa said in an interview with the Star,
adding that women and children are also aboard the ship. The Tigers are
trying to regroup here to keep the movement alive. He called them a
grave security threat to Canada. But David Poopalapillai of the Canadian
Tamil Congress dismissed those accusations, calling it fear-mongering
among ordinary Canadians. This is exactly what the Sri Lankan
government had said for the 76 men who came to Canada in October. They all
proved they werent terrorists. (The
Star ; 10 Aug 2010).

Two more Lankan asylum
ships may set sail for Canada  Rohan - As a
cargo ship with 200 Tamils on board approaches British Columbias
coastline, two other shiploads of would-be asylum seekers are planning to
conduct a similar voyage, a terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna says.
Gunaratna, head of a research center in Singapore and an expert on Sri
Lankas Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, says the potential asylum
seekers are waiting to see what kind of reception those aboard the MV
Sun Sea receive before deciding whether they, too, will set sail for
Canada. "Because of Canadas response to Ocean Lady
last year, the Tamil Tigers decided to dispatch Sun Sea to Canada,
and depending on Canadian response to this vessel, the two other ships
will arrive," Gunaratna told the Globe and Mail newspaper. The
Ocean Lady, a migrant ship with 76 Tamil asylum seekers on board,
arrived on Canadas west coast last October. Intercepted by the
Emergency Response Team of the RCMP, Canadas national police, with
support from the Canadian forces and Canada Border Services Agency, the
rusty freighter was boarded and detained at Ogden Point in Victoria,
British Columbia. The vessels passengers, all of whom claimed
refugee status, were taken to a correctional facility in Vancouver for
processing, detained for three months and then released, despite
information that at least 25 were connected to the Tamil Tigers, a
terrorist group outlawed in Canada. Many of the migrants refugee
applications are still pending. The process, which can cost the government
up to $48,680 per applicant, could take several years. The
freighter, formerly Harin Panich 19, was originally bound for
Australia before changing en route to head for Canada. Canadian
Defense Minister Peter MacKay verified last week that Canada, along with
the US Coast Guard and Homeland Security, has been monitoring the ships
advance for a while (Island
: 10 Aug 2010).

The International Statesmen
Kofi Annan, Mandela, Tutu and Jimmy Carter, the latest hirelings of the
LTTE Diaspora - By Dr Garvin Karunaratne,
formerly of the SLAS - Kofi Annan the former Secretary General of the
United Nations, Nelson Mandela the Noble Prize Winner and former President
of South Africa, Desmond Tutu, also a Nobel Prize Winner and the
Archibishop of South Africa and former US President of the USA, Jimmy
Carter have raised their voice in support of the United Nations
investigation into the supposed atrocities committed by the Sri Lankan
Government in annihilating the terrorist LTTE from Sri Lanka. They have
together accused the Sri Lankan Government of marginalizing the ethnic
minority Tamils. They do not know that it was the Government of Sri
Lanka that liberated the Tamils that the LTTE had incarcerated in the
North and the East for close upon three decades. They fail to understand
that the vast majority of the Tamils living in Sri Lanka were living
happily amongst the Sinhala people, enjoying all the priviledges that the
entire population enjoyed. All this while the Tamils that lived in the
LTTE areas were actually incarcerated by Prabhakaran at the point of the
gun to do his bidding (LankaWeb
; 10 Aug 2010).

Tamil Tigers
pair fly in to have baby - FEDERAL authorities
will allow a couple ASIO deemed a threat to national security to have
their baby on the Australian mainland. And Australian taxpayers will foot
the bill. The impending birth of the Tamil couple's third child forced the
Department of Immigration and Citizenship to concede last night that the
pair would be flown to Perth within 12 weeks because the hospital on
Christmas Island, which is excised from Australia for migration purposes,
is not equipped or staffed for births. No child has been born on the
island for about 15 years; residents and asylum-seekers are sent to the
West Australian capital when they reach the 34th week of their
pregnancies, usually with their immediate families. The woman, who is six
months pregnant, is among Tamil asylum-seekers rescued by the Oceanic
Viking and offered a special deal by the Rudd government last October. She
was on the Australian Customs boat with the couple's two children, now
aged six and three. Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar. End of
sidebar. Return to start of sidebar. On December 29 last year, the woman,
her children and three Sri Lankan men from the Oceanic Viking flew via
charter aircraft from Indonesia directly to Christmas Island. There, she
and the children were reunited with her husband. He had arrived by boat a
few months earlier and has also been issued an adverse security finding by
ASIO. The family now lives under guard in a converted construction camp on
Christmas Island and are indefinitely detained. Though ASIO's finding
makes it legally impossible for Australia to accept the woman, Australia
would be in breach of its human rights obligations if it returned her to
Sri Lanka. This is because, like the 77 others aboard the Oceanic Viking
during the standoff, she is a legal refugee designated by the UNHCR. In
March, The Australian reported that the woman lived and worked in the
Vanni district in Sri Lanka's north, which was controlled by the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The woman's brother told The Australian
that his sister had been employed in the de facto justice system set up by
the LTTE, which was described by the US State Department as
"agents" of the Tamil Tigers. There are three other Sri Lankans
from the Oceanic Viking -- all men -- who are in limbo too, having also
received adverse security assessments from ASIO (The
Australian : 10 August 2010).

More Jaffna farmers take
to grape cultivation - A better market have been
created for grape farmers in Jaffna, with the opening of the A-9 road,
Agriculture (Extension) Deputy Director Jaffna, S.Sivakumar said. He said
there were 52 hectares cultivated with grapes in Jaffna in 2009 and
farmers have now cultivated 56 hectares and the cultivated area increases
gradually. Though there are other grapes growing districts in Sri Lanka,
Jaffna is the only district growing the fruit on a commercial basis, he
said. There are 400 farmers cultivating grapes in Jaffna and because of
the big demand farmers who gave up cultivation have resumed cultivation of
grapes, Sivakumar said. "Farmers cultivate grapes during two seasons.
The main season is August-September and the other is January-February.
Consumers expect the same quality as grapes imported from Australia.
Australian grapes are more sweeter and seedless. We have introduced more
sweeter grape varieties namely Cardinal and Israel Blue for farmers
engaged in grape cultivation in Jaffna," the Deputy Director said (Daily
News ; 10 Aug 2010).

Pot calling the kettle
black - In 1985, Britain accommodated the LTTE
Headquarters in London and continued to adopt a sterile attitude towards
all the crimes committed against hapless civilians in Sri Lanka by the
LTTE. London continued to be the centre of LTTE propaganda and fund
collections allowing the organization to grow in stature to become the
worlds most organized and ruthless terror organization in 2006 (FBI).
Even though Britain had passed legislation after 9/11, banning the LTTE,
that ban petered out to be a paper ban with LTTE and their front
organizations doing business as usual (Daily
News : 10 Aug 2010).

Ottawa
City Council is to bear the cost of nearly USD 10 million spent to provide
extra security during pro- LTTE demonstrations.

KP launches an NGO -
It is reported that the NGO named NERDO launched by Kumaran Pathmanathan
to collect funds for the development of the north and east will be opening
nine branches in this country. The web site of NERDO says that this
organization was created for the purpose of brightening the future
prospects of Tamil youth who were caught in the LTTE grasp and suffered
the consequences of war and to uplift the public life of the north and
east provinces (Sri
Lanka Watch : 9 Aug 2010).

Sri Lanka -
by Ira de Silva London, Canada - Mr. Matthew Russell Lee Inner City Press
New York, N.Y. Dear Mr. Lee: I was sent a copy of your recent ranting
about Sri Lanka dated August 3,2010 and some of the other reports that had
taken place before August 3, 2010. You seem to be impatient that the panel
set up by Ban to advise him on Sri Lanka is dragging its feet and not
producing an immediate report. It seems you have no other subject to deal
with other than Sri Lanka, so it is understandable that you are irritated
by the delays but on the other hand, if you have been retained to keep the
issue of Sri Lanka front and centre at UN press briefings, you must be
happy that there is a delay as every time you ask questions about Sri
Lanka or report about Sri Lanka you must be receiving some satisfaction.
Is it to keep the attention of your backers focussed that you state 
after Sri Lankas May 2009 bloodbath on the beach which killed
thousands of civilians? After one year of repeating this canard, has it
not occurred to you that there is no evidence of thousands of civilians
killed on the beach? With the UN and other western paid NGOs operating
throughout the island surely they could have come up with evidence during
the past year? Where are the bodies of the thousands killed? As you must
be aware your supporters have been inflating the numbers from seven
thousand initially claimed to over forty thousand as time went on. Did the
INGOs, the UN, Red Cross take these bodies out of the island? Why is it
that unsubstantiated statements issued by LTTE supporters are accepted by
you as gospel?If you were not so biased and followed even the basics
of reputable journalism you would have taken note of the thousands of
civilians who broke loose of their LTTE captors and streamed out of the
beach area at the first opportunity. Did you note that the so called
international community immediately changed their focus and began
condemning the Sri Lankan Government because these people were not
immediately resettled into their homes  the homes they were driven from
by none other than the LTTE to make them a human shield? One year on and
the task of resettlement is almost complete while your governments
actions have created millions of refugees in Afghanistan and Pakistan but
the western press just ignores them and the fact that they will not be
resettled any time soon. Also, what about the thousands of civilians that
have been killed in Afghanistan and passed off as collateral damage? It
seems that while the US and its allies have licence to claim an
unlimited number as collateral damage during war and has been exposed by
the latest publications in Wikileaks, you are harping on an incident in
Sri Lanka that did not take place. Perhaps if you need more work you
should focus on Afghanistan, Pakistan and also Iraq. There is plenty of
evidence to keep UN investigative panels working for decades (LankaWeb
: 9 Aug 2010).

Canada concerned that
migrant ship could be carrying Tamil Tigers - Canada's
top security official says he's concerned a ship carrying asylum seekers
from Sri Lanka could be carrying members of a terrorist organization.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said Monday they have concerns the ship
could be carrying members of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist
group outlawed in Canada since 2006. The Thai cargo ship  the MV Sun
Sea  is expected to reach Canada as soon as this week. Toews is being
briefed regularly but declined to provide further details. He says it is
imperative that Canada prevent terrorist organizations from abusing the
refugee system. Sri Lanka's civil war ended in May 2009 after a massive
government operation against the Tigers (Fox
News : 9 Aug 2010).

Tamil groups clash in
Oslo - Police in the Norwegian capital, Oslo,
have arrested three Sri Lankan Tamil men thought to be from rival factions
supporting the Tamil Tigers, after a clash in a Hindu religious festival,
the BBC reported yesterday. The BBC report said: "Six men are wounded
and three of them are arrested after dispute that evolved into the fight,
"operations manager Find Belle of the Oslo Police was quoted in
Norwegian media. A fight has erupted at a Hindu temple festival in Oslo on
late Saturday night, it said. The injured have been admitted to Ullevål
hospital in Oslo. Member of the Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamil, a
pro-Tamil Tiger group led by Nediyavan, and the Norwegian Tamil Economical
Unit, Sivaganesh Vadivelu is among the wounded. He is currently being
treated in the Intensive Care Unit. Nediyavan was reported to be the most
senior LTTE leader who opposed the appointment of Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP)
as the successor to Velupillai Prabhakaran (Island
: 9 Aug 2010).

Three Member Advisory
Panel On Sri Lanka - Further to our media
release of July 5, 2010 titled UN Secretary Generals Panel on Sri
Lanka is a Blunder of Serious Proportions wherein we discussed your
having over-stepped your powers in appointing a Panel of Outside Nominees
to investigate alleged human rights violations by Sri Lanka during the
latter stages of the military action taken against the internationally
designated terrorist group called the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
without the prior sanction of either the General Assembly or the Security
Council and in contravention of the decision taken by the UNHRC in June
2009, we are now writing to raise some pertinent questions for you and
your panel which is attempting to function in violation of the UN Charter.
You are no doubt aware that Tamil civilians of the Vanni had been forcibly
removed from their villages and herded to form a human shield for the
retreating Tamil Tiger terrorist forces. The Sri Lankan authorities
declared cease fires for the express purpose of having the trapped
civilians move out of the battlefront to safety and care, but this was
denied to them by the LTTE which turned their guns and suicide bombers on
the civilians that sought to move out of the latters area of control.
In the circumstances, the government had to unilaterally demarcate safe
zones for the civilians whilst they battled the armed cadres of the Tamil
Tiger terrorist group (LankaWeb
: 9 Aug 2010).

Tiger clash in Norway -
Norwegian Police have arrested three Sri Lankan Tamil men in Oslo thought
to be from rival factions supporting the Tamil Tigers, after a clash in a
Hindu religious festival. According to Oslo Police 6 men are wounded and
three of them are arrested aged between 20 and 40 years after dispute that
evolved into the fight. A fight has erupted during the Chariot Festival at
the Murugan Hindu temple Water cutting festival in Oslo on late Saturday
night. The injured have been admitted to Ullevål hospital in Oslo. A
Member of the Pro Tamil Tiger Group Norwegian Council of Eezham Tamils (NCET),
led by Nediyavan, and Sivaganesh Vadivelu of Norwegian Tamil Economical
Unit, are among the wounded. Unconfirmed reports say that they are
currently being treated in the Intensive Care Unit. Nediyavan is one of
the most senior LTTE leaders who opposed the appointment of Kumaran
Pathmanathan (KP) as the successor to Velupillai Prabhakaran and still
also advocates a violent solution to the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka (Sri
Lanka Watch : 9 Aug 2010).

Colombo-Jaffna buses
plying on the sly - National Transport
Commission (NTC) Transport Director Vipula Hewawalimuni yesterday said
they will take legal action against unauthorized passenger buses that are
plying between Colombo and Jaffna. The buses are run by private
operators without route permits. We will have solved the matter within the
next few weeks, said Hewawalimuni. Asked how many buses are plying
without route permits between Colombo and Jaffna , he said the NTC will
identify them with the assistance of the police. The National Transport
Authority is responsible for the issue of route permits. There are
68 buses that are plying illegally between Jaffna and Colombo, and this
stands to cause a loss of Rs.10 billion to the government , according to
sources at Lanka Private Bus Owners' Association. As pointed out by
Lanka Private Bus Owners Association(LPBOA) Chairman Gemunu Wijeratne,
most buses that are being run illegally, are owned by politicians from
both parties and several mudalalis. "We have apprised the
National Transport Commission regarding the matter as it is their
responsibility to control the situation. These buses have been plying
illegally for many months now, he said. "There have also been
irregularities in the tender procedure for the bus service between Jaffna
and Colombo, he said. "The Association has decided to take
legal action against the situation," said Wijeratna (Daily
News : 9 Aug 2010).

Tiger weapons for army -
The army is using some of the functional weapons recovered during search
operation in the North and East, the military said today. Colonel Duminda
Gamage of the Army Media Directorate said the Ministry of Defence would
decide on whether the rest of the weapons would be sold or handed to the
army. With Ministry of Defence (MOD) approval, weapons which are
functional were handed over to the army, Colonel Gamage said. He
said there were three types of weapons recovered by the security forces -
weapons with extensive and minimum damages, and those that were outdated.
We send the recovered weapons to the Central Armory. They decide what
should be kept in reserve and what should be dismantled, he said.
So far the military has recovered hundreds of thousands of weapons hidden
by the LTTE from the North and East. Meanwhile, security forces recovered
a massive haul of weapons including eighty 60 mm mortar bombs during a
search operation carried out at Iranamadu in Killinochchi and Mulliyaweli
on Sunday evening. The weapons included six 60 mm mortar cartridges,
fifteen 60 mm mortar fuses, 14 Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG), one RPG
launcher, one RPG body part, twenty-eight 81 mm mortar bombs, two claymore
mines, two T-56 weapon body parts, one 120 mm mortar bomb and two T-56
assault rifles were also recovered during the search operation (Daily
Mirror : 9 Aug 2010).

Canada concerned -
The Canadian government is concerned about the anticipated arrival of a
ship carrying 200 migrants from Sri Lanka, Canadas Public Safety
Minister, told guests at a luncheon at the Economic Club of Toronto this
afternoon, the Canadian media reported. The 59-metre ship, which Canadian
authorities have been monitoring throughout the summer and which is
expected to arrive along the British Columbia coast sometime this week, is
reportedly a people-smuggling vessel and may be carrying members of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a terrorist group outlawed in Canada.
I dont want to comment on the operational details, but I can assure
you that we are concerned about who is on that ship and why they might be
coming to Canada, Vic Toews, Canadas Public Safety Minister, told
about 50 guests at a luncheon at the Economic Club of Toronto this
afternoon (Daily
Mirror ; 9 Aug 2010).

Northern youth to study
Indian culture - Northern Province Governor
Major General G A Chandrasiri said 15 selected youths from the Northern
Province went India with two officers to learn the Indian cultural dance
and arts. The youth will study arts and culture at a University in Chennai.
The left for India Saturday. 'They will receive training for three months
at the University. The youths will learn latest dancing, Baratha dance etc
during this period', he added. Chandrasiri told the Daily News that the
aim of sending Northern youths to India to give them opportunity to obtain
the cultural knowledge after three decades of war. The Northern Province
youths can learn arts and culture as well as improve cultural knowledge
and values. He noted that the Northern Provincial Council sponsoring the
training program has spent Rs.1.2 million. The youths were selected from
all five districts in the Northern Province (Daily
News ; 9 Aug 2010).

Heroic
Sons of Sri Lanka who laid their lives to preserve the Unity of Mother
Lanka 18 years ago

Lt. Gen. Denzil
Kobbekaduwa & veteran war heroes remembered -
One of the finest War Heroes in our contemporary history, Lieutenant
General Denzil Kobbekaduwa is remembered on 8th August by grateful
fellow-military personnel and people of Sri Lanka as eighteen years have
passed since his untimely death. Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa
whose leadership and command brought about many victories to Sri Lanka
Army during early battles of the Eelam wars fell silent on 8th August 1992
along with fellow-military veterans, Major General Wijaya Wimalarathne,
Rear Admiral Mohan Jayamaha, Lieutenant Colonel H.R Stephen, Lieutenant
Colonel G. H. Ariyarathne, Lieutenant Colonel Y N Palipana, Commander
Asanga Lankathilaka, Lieutenant Colonel Nalin de Alwis, Lieutenant
Commander C. B. Wijepura and the soldier, Private W J Wickremasinghe while
they were on a military assignment in Araly Point in Kayts, Jaffna (Sri
Lanka Defence Ministry : 8 Aug 2010).

Denzil-Officer and a
Gentleman - The late Denzil Kobbekaduwa will be
remembered for years as an officer and gentleman, attached to the Sri
Lanka Army for many years, not only as a Solder but also as a sportsman.
Denzil Kobbekaduwa Denzil departed in 1992 (Aug 8), 18 years back through
a bomb blast by LTTE. Denzil played for Trinity College 1957-59 and won
his Rugby Lion in the last year. Further to rugby he also won School
colors in Cricket and Hockey. After leaving Trinity he joined Kandy SC and
later Army SC. After his playing career was over he took up coaching in
rugby and did a yeoman service for both Kandy SC and Army. Denzil after
his coaching career took up refereeing and ended up as Division 1 referee.
A foundation was set up by his wife Lali and his daughters to look after
the needy soldiers - those who are injured and disabled through the
30-year-old war (Sunday
Times : 8 Aug 2010).

A great warrior and
gentleman - Eighteen years have passed since
that fateful day, August 8, 1992, when a LTTE laid landmine explosion at
Araly point in Jaffna peninsula, took the lives of Maj. Gen. Vijaya
Wimalaratne, Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Northern Naval
Commander Vice Admiral Mohan Jayamaha and six other gallant officers with
the only survivor being Major General Vijaya Wimalaratnes buddy
Sergeant Major Upali who lost both his legs. He is presently a Provincial
Councillor of the North Central Provincial Council. The war against the
LTTE terrorist took 17 long years, until the determined President Mahinda
Rajapaksa and his able and capable brother Defence Secretary, Col.
Gotabaya Rajapaksa guided and directed Commanders of the Army, Navy and
the Air Force who fearlessly led their officers and soldiers to wipe out
the LTTE terrorists and liberate the motherland from the claws of
terrorism. During nearly three years long period from the year 2006 to May
2009, in which the Sri Lankan Security Forces unleashed its relentless
battle against the LTTE saw the void created by the untimely death of
Major General Vijaya Wimalaratne but they were fortune enough to have the
guidance of valiant military leaders in the calibre of Colonel Gotabaya
Rajapaksa who was groomed as military officials under Major General
Wimalaratne (Sunday
Observer : 8 August 2010).

Why is Moon blind to West
exporting terrorism? Part II. - H. L. D.
Mahindapala - Part I published yesterday focused on US State Departments
latest report on terrorism which said categorically that Tamil Tiger
terrorists continue to raise funds in North America, Europe and Australia
either through coercion or bogus charity funds  all of which lead to
violations of human rights in Sri Lanka destabilized by terrorism. This
means that these terrorist activities are continued despite the domestic
laws of these Western nations prohibiting terrorist activities on their
soil. The report is quite emphatic in saying: In spite of losing the
war on the ground in Sri Lanka, the LTTEs international network of
financial support was suspected to have survived largely intact. The
conclusion that can be drawn from this statement is that though the
terrorist war in Sri Lanka is over, ending violations of human rights
arising from it, the Western bases of the banned Tamil Tiger outfit remain
intact and open for its terrorist network to carry on their illegal
activities under the very noses of the Western champions of human rights.
It is the international dimensions of Tamil Tiger terrorism that is a
concern to Sri Lanka and the international community. The State Department
has quite correctly rung the alarm bells to signal the current threats
from the agents of Tamil Tiger terrorists operating in Western bases, This
places a heavy responsibility on Ban Ki-Moon to raise the issue of the
terrorist bases of the banned Tamil Tigers with the big powers in the West
who are sheltering selected terrorists groups like the Tamil Tigers while
the agents of Al Quaida are hunted ruthlessly day and night. It is
mandatory for him to root out terrorism in all its manifestations 
particularly fund raising and propagandizing  because the UN Security
Council resolutions specifically identify these as primary causes of
global terrorism (LankaWeb
: 8 Aug 2010).

US report on terrorism
points a finger at the West - Part 1 - by H. L.
D. Mahindapala - In its latest Country Report on Terrorism, 2009, (August
5, 2010), the US State Department pin-points the international network of
Tamil Tigers (LTTE) even after they were defeated on My 18, 2009. The
report highlights four main aspects of the current Tamil Tiger activities:
1) in spite of losing the war and the serious blow to it by the capture of
Selvarajah Pathmanathan (aka KP), the LTTEs principal financier and
arms supplier,  the LTTEs international network of financial support
have survived largely intact 2) this network continues to collect
contributions from the Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and
Australia 3) some of these contributions were coerced by locally-based
LTTE sympathizers and 4) the LTTE also used Tamil charitable organizations
as fronts for fundraising. All this is common knowledge to the Sri Lankan
government, Tamil and non-Tamil expatriates who have been involved in
Tiger manipulated events abroad, and to the international intelligence
communities monitoring terrorist activities. However, what is significant
is that the US has identified these activities which have serious
consequences to Sri Lankan peace, stability and democracy, not to mention
the global war on terrorism which continues to dominate the international
agenda (LankaWeb
: 8 Aug 2010).

Elders voice on Sri Lanka
- by Ben Silva - OPEN LETTER to Former Anglican
Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, The Leader of THE ELDERS COUNCIL -
Dear Desmond Tutu, Tutu gone ku ku Sri Lankans have suffered massively and
a lot of blood spilt due to Tamil, racist terrorist violence that produced
orphans, regular blowing to pieces of innocent civilians, smashing the
heads of Sinhala babies, ripping the guts of Sinhala poor pregnant women
and so on. Media reports indicate that LTTE treated captured Soldiers
badly. They were savagely beaten and sometimes electrocuted. They crushed
their genitals, also used to put chillie powder in to their foreskin Ref:
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2010/08/08/pows-of-the-eelam-war/ .
Whilst Tamil terrorism was in full swing Tutu did not open his mouth and
kept his mouth shut. Tutu also appear to ignore natural justice as he only
appear to listen to the Tamil terrorist version of events. It is shocking
and disgraceful that Tutu wants to be the spoke person for the Tamils that
have carried out evil acts mentioned above. Tutu is shamefully hounding
GOSL that defeated terrorism and brought law and order to the country.
Shame on you Tutu. If we allow Tamils to run any part of Sri Lanka, the
above indicates the type of treatment to expect. After all, the Tamils are
credited with the destruction of the Sinhala civilization. It is shocking,
disgusting and pathetic to see Tutu who fought a bitter war against white
racism now supporting Tamil racism and Tamil imperialism. The Sinhalese
fought for survival and the Tamils to expand and sustain the Chola empire.
This comedian Tutu ought to read up on Tamil Nadu and the Cholas to get a
better understanding of the situation in Sri Lanlka. Sri Lankans wanted
the terrorists to be eliminated in what ever method to stop future loss of
life .Many believe the action of GLSL is fully justified and there is
precedence. Tutu ought to study history to get a better understanding of
wars and conflicts. Election results show that majority approved the
method used by GOSL. It is utter hypocrisy for some one who did not suffer
from terrorist violence to preach human rights to GOSL.Tutu is preaching
LTTE propaganda in a coded language (LankaWeb
: 8 Aug 2010).

Canada, US to take action
on refugee ship - The United States Department
of Homeland Security (DHS) and Canadian authorities continue to monitor
the ship believed to be carrying Tamil migrants sailing towards Canada. At
the State Department media briefing held yesterday (5 August), Assistant
Secretary Philip J. Crowley said the Thai ship MV Sun Sea is being
monitored by the U.S. Coast Guard and the Department of Homeland Security
and appropriate action will be taken depending on the destination of the
ship. "As a practical matter, we monitor, through the Coast Guard and
the Department of Homeland Security, all ships that are moving in waters
and moving towards the United States. We don't know about this particular
ship, what its final destination is. As I think DHS has said in the past
24 hours, it will take appropriate action depending on the course of that
ship", he said. He added there was information that there may be some
individuals on board the ship and the DHS is the agency that deals with
such matters. "We are tracking this ship and we're prepared to take
appropriate action if need be," Crowley stated. Canadian authorities
too said on Sunday they are preparing to handle any situation that may
arise from the arrival of the migrant ship carrying Sri Lankan Tamil
refugees some time in the second week of August. "We are watching
very closely. We are preparing for any inevitability and we are working
closely with the international community, most notably with the United
States of America," Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay told
Canadian media (ISRIA
: 8 Aug 2010).

Ottawa to bear USD 10mn
cost on pro-LTTE protests - Ottawa City Council
is to bear the cost of nearly USD 10 million spent to provide extra
security during pro- LTTE demonstrations last year. The Ottawa Citizen
reported yesterday (4 August) that the Federal Government in Cananda has
not responded to the request made by the Ottawa City Councillor, Eli El-Chantiry
to reimburse the USD 10 million. The City Councillor agreed that the USD
10 million the federal government gave the city was "never meant to
go to things like the Tamil protests, but for on-going and continuous
challenges in the nation's capital." "I would love to be able to
at least get an acknowledgement," El-Chantiry said. "To ignore
it like it never existed, it's not fair." A spokeswoman with Public
Safety said in an e-mail to the Ottawa Citizen that "this matter is
being reviewed." The City Councillor does not believe it's fair for
local taxpayers to pick up the costs of keeping the peace, Ottawa Citizen
said. "Would Ottawa residents appreciate paying for the costs in
Toronto, is a question I ask," the City Councillor stated. Recently,
the City of Ottawa did receive USD 10 million -- or USD 2 million a year
to cover a five-year period -- to help pay for costs associated with
national events or issues, such as policing for Canada Day or extra
security when a foreign dignitary visits the capital, the report further
added (ISRIA : 8
Aug 2010).

Strategy pays dividends,
says expert on terrorism: Govt commended for KPs transformation -
An international expert on terrorism, Prof. Rohan Gunaratne commended the
Government on its success with KPs complete transformation from an
ex-terrorist to a key stakeholder in the post conflict humanitarian
activities. I must congratulate the Sri Lankan Government, first of all
for capturing KP and bringing him to Sri Lanka and secondly, for ensuring
that he was not put in prison. If he was (jailed), he would have been just
another prisoner, said Professor of Security Studies Rohan Gunaratna at
the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies of the Nanyang
Technological University, Singapore. Delivering the Prof. Nandadasa
Kodagoda memorial oration at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI)
last week, he said the Governments decision to treat KP differently and
engage him to harness his support to win the Tamil Diaspora has paid
dividends. Rehabilitation has worked for him and today he plays a key
role in engaging the Tamil Diaspora towards humanitarian activities. If KP
can be transformed, a very large number of people who worked against Sri
Lanka can also be transformed, he said and added that he was making
this statement after meeting KP twice, once last year, shortly after the
arrest and then again this year. Prof. Gunaratna said although enforcement
is the best strategy to fight terrorism, engagement is the best strategy
to dissuade support for terrorism and ensure genuine transformation. To
disband the LTTEs highly destructive ideology, the Government must
create platforms for former militant leaders such as KP who repent to
articulate their point of view publicly. (Sunday
Observer: 8 August 2010).

Jaffna red onion farmers
penetrate Dambulla market - Red onion farmers
from Jaffna now bring their harvest directly to the Dambulla Economic
Centre. Due to this they are up on the deal and have greater satisfaction
too, said Dambulla Economic Development Society Chairman U.R.
Dayanandasiri.More than 100,000 kilos of onion are brought to the Dambulla
Economic Centre daily from Jaffna. Due to the prevailing peaceful
situation, the Jaffna red onion farmers are able to market their products
directly in the Dambulla Economic Centre without the mediation of a third
person. A kilo of red onion is purchased from farmers in Jaffna at a price
between Rs. 20 and Rs. 30, but is sold at a price between Rs. 40 and Rs.
55 directly by the farmers at the Dambulla Economic Centre (Sunday
Observer : 8 August 2010).

Muhamalai, the prelude to
Nanthikadal victory - Memories that unfold in
our mind about Sri Lankas struggle to achieve permanent peace give an
important place for the month of August which goes down in history as the
one in which the LTTE started digging its own grave. It was in 2006 that
the country reached a critical situation when the LTTE fired the first
bullet into the air in closing the sluice gates of Mavil Aru. The LTTE
started digging its own grave by giving up negotiations with the
Government. Although the LTTE launched its battle against the Security
Forces from Muttur and Kattaparichchan on August 1, their real intention
was to capture the Jaffna peninsula, their prime focus. According to the
analysts all LTTE operations in the East were a preparation for the major
battle waged on August 10, 2006 in the Forward Defence Line in Jaffna, the
National Front which is considered the most decisive for the LTTE. The
rigid terrain from Kilali lagoon to Muhamalai and Nagar Kovil, soaked with
the blood of our gallant war heroes bears testimony to the tact that the
battle was so decisive for the Security forces that the country could
hardly entertain hopes for dawn of peace (Sunday
Observer ; 8 Aug 2010).

National security will
not be compromised - Keheliya Rambukwella -
Minister of Media and Mass Communication Keheliya Rambukwella said the
national security would not be compromised although some persons were
trying to bring up issues to tarnish the image of the Government. In an
interview with the Sunday Observer he said that though the Government was
accused of treating Kumaran Pathmanathan (KP) well, they have forgotten
the past where LTTE frontliners were brought to the country giving VVIP
facilities. Some went to the extent of calling the LTTE leaders as machan,
he said. Like we recorded the war victory, if we can win the hearts and
minds of the Tamil Diaspora we can be victors, he said adding that the
Tamil Diaspora had completely dropped the LTTEs ideology of a separate
homeland for Tamils - and had pledged its support to develop post war Sri
Lanka. He said that instead of a separate homeland they now want to
support the Government to develop the country to ensure a future for the
Tamils. Excerpts of the interview: (Sunday
Observer : 8 Aug 2010).

Memories of Lakshman
Kadirgamar, the quintessential Sri Lankan - Life
is not without its tragedies and almost all of us, in the course of our
human sojourn on earth, are called upon to endure our share of these
tragedies. Just as much as we individually suffer indignities and ordeals,
so do the countries of the world. And I am now absolutely convinced that
it is Sri Lankas enormous tragedy and misfortune that Lakshman
Kadirgamar was compelled to take leave of us before he could help put Sri
Lanka right after the end of the brutal reign of Velupillai Prabhakaran
and his band of Liberation Tigers!I recall vividly the last hours of
August 12, 2005, the day Lakshman Kadirgamar died at the hands of a
suspected LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) assassin. Amidst his
crowded life as Sri Lankas Foreign Minister and Senior Advisor to the
President on International Affairs (the latter post he held in the brief
period of his political career when he did not hold the portfolio of
foreign affairs), Kadirgamar found the time to give exemplary leadership
to the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies (BCIS) by serving as
Chairman of the Centres Council of Management. In the latter capacity,
the late Minister added immeasurable value to the BCISs traditional
offerings and initiated several new ones. Among the noteworthy fresh
offerings were two that were especially dear to his heart and by means of
the completion of which he anticipated giving to Sri Lanka and the world
something all of us could be proud of: the first of these was the
establishment of a quality new journal under BCIS auspices and the other
the commissioning of a classic study of the art of Stanley Kirinde,
Kadirgamars contemporary at Trinity College, Kandy and at the
University of Ceylon (Sunday
Times : 8 Aug 2010).

Tamils have faith in
President - Prabha Ganesan - Parliamentarian
Prabha Ganesan who pledged to support the government on Thursday to help
reach a two-third majority, said the weak Opposition could not address the
grievances of the Tamils and the only leader that could solve the national
problem was President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his government, which would be
in power for the next 15 years. A businessman and an electronic engineer
by profession, Ganesan in an interview with the Sunday Observer said his
crossover was supported by all the organisers of the Democratic People's
Front (DPF) and the President has pledged to look into the grievances of
Tamils. "Tamils are happy and have placed trust in President
Rajapaksa as he wants all ethnic groups to be Sri Lankans. President
Rajapaksa has a special affection for Sri Lanka and as he was determined
to free the country from terror he will develop this country to a world
class destination. I don't think that there would be any other who can
solve the national problem." Excerpts of the interview: (Sunday
Observer : 8 Aug 2010).

Watch
out for Tigers in asylum clothing

Lankan Ship With Refugees Heading To Canadian Port? -
Sri Lankan Tamils in the U.S. are denying any knowledge of a ship
allegedly carrying Sri Lankan refugees to a Canadian port in the
West. One source, on condition of anonymity, told AHN Media in
Washington, D.C., We know what we read on Canadian websites and have no
news of any relatives or others on this ship, adding, If there are
LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] rebels on board, do you expect
anyone to confirm that? The U.S. State Department on Thursday
confirmed that it was monitoring a ship carrying Sri Lankan migrants and
that it might be heading for Canadian ports. "We're not aware
that the Sun Sea, which is the name of the ship, has contacted the U.S.
government. We're aware that it may be moving toward Vancouver,
Canada," State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley told
journalists. Asked to comment on what kind of individuals  other
than the crew presumably, are on board, Crowley said, We are tracking
this ship and were prepared to take appropriate action if need be.
According to Canadian reports, the cargo ship is traveling under the Thai
flag, and reports from Sri Lanka say that members of the Tamil Tiger rebel
group LTTE may be on board (All
Headlines News : 7 Aug 2010).

How legitimate are the recommendations of the Elders
- by Shenali Waduge - A former presidential
spokesman has forwarded a list of recommendations given in a statement
issued on 3rd August 2010 by The Elders calling upon the Governments
of India, Japan, China & US to impress upon GOSL to implement 7
remedial steps that 14 members of the retired elders club have drawn
up. The Elders was founded in 2007 by Nelson Mandela. Its membership has
10 active leaders & 2 honorary members with Desmond Tutu functioning
as its Chairman. Aung San Suu Kyi, Martti Ahtisaari, Kofi Annan, Ela Bhatt,
Lakhdar Brahimi, Gro Harlem Brundtland, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Jimmy
Carter, Graca Machel and Mary Robinson make up the rest of the membership.
For these 14 members to spend time, gathering info, analyzing &
rationalizing & to come up with practically the duplicate of
allegations & recommendations been demanded of the GOSL (by the West
& INGOs/NGOs) seems a little too coincidental (LankaWeb
: 7 Aug 2010).

Trinco comes alive with
ADB projects gradually taking shape - Scars of
war, ominous though they were, did not curtail or inhibit progress;
quickly reshaping the Eastern port city of Trincomalee. Funded by the
Asian Development Bank (ADB) through the North East Coastal Community
Development Project (NECCDEP), wide cross section improvement projects are
on-going. Cod Bay Fisheries Harbour, re-establishing mangroves to enhance
prawn, crab, and lobster stock and community development projects to
promote self- improvement through home based minor industries. All such
projects enthusiastically initiated are on-going. Benefits accruing
although applicable to individuals are generally community-based and
eventually expected strengthen each village. Drained of previous support,
NECCDEP interventions were well received. Cod Bay fisheries harbour in
China Bay is one. Objectives envisaged are to enhance existing berthing
capacity for ocean going vessels venturing into fringe waters bordering
Sri Lankan nautical limits. These sea going boats have at present
out-reach limits approximately 75 nautical miles out to sea, particularly
because of limited radio limits. Project Director, NECCDEP, and former
Government Agent, (GA) Jaffna, S. Mariadason Croos said all ADB projects
were ongoing and completion could be expected on schedule. Latest end
September this year (Island
: 7 Aug 2010).

Watch out
for Tigers in asylum clothing: Gota - The
government yesterday warned the international community to be mindful of
the LTTE, though militarily defeated, was involved in human smuggling and
could enter those countries posing as asylum seekers. Defence Secretary
Gotabaya Rajapaksa told visiting overseas delegates at the Galle
Dialogue 2010 on maritime security that the international community
should share intelligence to help crackdown on human smuggling. He warned
that trained LTTE cadres were entering foreign countries in the guise of
asylum seekers and could pose a security threat to those countries.
Defence Secretary Rajapaksa also stressed out that even the LTTE has been
militarily defeated in Sri Lanka, its international network remains
largely intact. In May this year, a vessel named the MV SUN SEA was
reported to be off Thailand waters. The general cargo ship believed to be
carrying more than 200 immigrants including a considerable number of LTTE
cadres, and is heading towards Canadian waters. This voyage is part of the
LTTE activists human smuggling operation that began after the military
defeat of the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the Defence Secretary said (Daily
Mirror : 7 Aug 2010).

KPSPEAKS
OUT: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE FORMER TIGER CHIEF -
It was one year ago on August 5, 2009 that Thambiaiya Selvarasa
Pathmanathan alias KP was taken into custody in Kuala Lumpur at
First Tune Hotel on 316 Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman road.The former chief
arms procurer of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam(LTTE) was brought to
Colombo the following day. KPs capture was hailed as a
significant breakthrough because the senior Tiger operative was at that
time the nominal chief of the re-structured LTTE. In the aftermath of the
Mullivaaikkaal debacle resulting in the demise of LTTE supremo Velupillai
Prabhakaran and senior Tiger commanders, KP assumed leadership of the
movement abroad. The LTTE was re-structured with KP being appointed Thalaimai
Seyalar or chief secretary. With KPs capture punitive action
against him by Colombo was anticipated. However in an unexpected turn of
events there evolved a remarkable relationship between captor and captive
where the Sri Lankan government extended its hand of friendship towards KP
in a magnanimous gesture. KP in turn reciprocated pragmatically by
responding in a conciliatory and co-operative spirit. Though under
detention, KP has been afforded great autonomy of action by the Government
to play a constructive role in uplifting the Tamil people and achieving
ethnic reconciliation.. The ex-LTTE chief has set up a new non governmental
organization known as the North  East Rehabilitation and Development
Organization (NERDO). The NERDO is focusing on the release,
rehabilitation and re-settlement of ex LTTE cadres and IDPs of the
North  East. KP himself is concentrating on garnering aid and
assistance from sections of the Tamil Diaspora for the NERDO to formulate
and implement projects (Daily
Mirror ; 7 Aug 2010).

US COUNTRY REPORT AND
LTTE TERRORISM - By H.L.D Mahindapala - The
latest US Country Report on Terrorism, 2009, issued on August 5, 2010,
refers to the international Tamil Tiger (LTTE) activities in Sri Lanka
even after they were defeated on My 18, 2009. The report states: This
(international Tiger) network continued to collect contributions from the
Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe, and Australia, where there were
reports that some of these contributions were coerced by locally-based
LTTE sympathizers. The LTTE also used Tamil charitable organizations as
fronts for fundraising. Fund raising abroad is the standard practice of
the Tamil Tiger terrorists to wage their war in Sri Lanka. It is the money
raised in Australia (among other countries) that fired the bullets and
bombs that killed innocent civilians. Raising funds is also against
international law as defined in UN Security Council Resolution 1373 and
other related resolutions. Placed against this background of the global
war against terrorism, it is rather comical to hear the Australian expert
on terrorism, Prof. Clive Williams of the ANU saying: They (agents of
the Tamil Tiger terrorists) never done anything here except collects money
and they never posed a threat to Australia. It is always been very much a
support activity for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Organisations
should only be on the list if they post a particular danger to Australia.
I dont know anything (the Tigers) have done that would warranted it.
(The Australian -A Plus  July 16, 2010 (Sinhale
Hot News : 7 Aug 2010).

Kumaran
Pathmanathan did not surrender to the Government. He was arrested.

Defence Secy. defends KPs
role in post-war plans - GR says some of those
who question the legality of having a dialogue with KP had no qualms
about accepting his predecessor Prabhakaran as the sole representative of
Tamils. Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa says KP could play a vital
role in Sri Lankas efforts to patch up differences with the Tamil
Diaspora. In a post-war era, nothing could be as important as reaching an
understanding with the Tamil speaking people, both here and abroad, he
asserts. KP, he says, can play a pivotal role in the ongoing
reconciliation process. Strongly defending his decision to bring the
former LTTE heavyweight to the mainstream of society, Defence Secretary
Rajapaksa, in an exclusive interview with The Island, discussed what he
called confidence-building-measures. "The Tamil Diaspora should be
given an opportunity to join the on-going rehabilitation, reconstruction
and resettlement efforts. KP and his associates are free to help us,"
he said. Responding to Opposition criticism of his strategy, an irate
Defence Secretary said that those who raised such issues did not even know
the meaning of the word strategy. The former Gajaba veteran said that only
a fool would have ignored a chance to secure the support of those who had
once fought for a separate state to rebuild the country and bring about
national reconciliation (Island
: 7 Aug 2010).

KP seen in rare video -
Former LTTE chief arms procurer Kumaran Padmanathan (KP) who is now
working with the government has been shown in a rare video at a program in
Vavuniya with actress Anoja Weerasingha (Daily
Mirror : 6 Aug 2010).

Open letter to Rev.
Desmond Tutu, Leader of The Elders - By Ira De
Silva, Canada - Dear Sir: To give credibility to this statement on Sri
Lanka by these "Elders" it is necessary to review your
statements, actions and attitudes towards Sri Lanka in the past.
Collectively you have shown a deplorable lack of knowledge and balance and
based your "judgements" on minimal, biased information without
any attempt at verification or consideration of the possibility that what
you have been told is only one side of the story. Let us review the
"Elders". Desmond Tutu looks at the world from his South African
experiences, namely black vs .white, oppressed vs. oppressor, and most
importantly apartheid where blacks were underpriviledged, had their own
"areas" namely slums and ghettos and the whites had the rest of
the country and led affluent "European" life styles. He
translates this to Sri Lanka and sees the Tamils who are a minority as
equivalent to the blacks, the oppressed and living in their own areas. He
does not seem to be aware that Tamils live everywhere in Sri Lanka, that
the LTTE carried out ethnic cleansing of areas in the north and east of
the country to attempt to create Tamil only areas while they lived
anywhere they chose in the island as well as the fact that they are
educated, very prosperous, own businesses and live on par with the rest of
the population (Island
: 6 Aug 2010).

Ex- LTTEers taught
traditional dancing - One hundred ex-LTTE cadres
were recently brought to Colombo, where they received training in
traditional dancing as a part of national integration programme conducted
by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. This was revealed by Chief Government
Whip Water Supply and Drainage Minister Dinesh Gunawardena, in response to
a question raised by UPFA national list MP Prof. Rajiva Wijesinha.
Minister Gunawardena said that ex-LTTE cadres had displayed their newly
acquired skills at national level cultural events. Opportunities have been
provided for artistes to excel in Kandyan dancing and drumming through 155
cultural centres which are under the Ministry of Cultural Affairs and 2120
Art Institutes (Kalayathana) functioning under the Department of Cultural
Affairs. Asked to state the action that had been taken to record the best
examples of these dance forms for television and in films, the Minister
said measures have been taken to record and conserve best performances of
Up-country, Low-country and Sabaragamuwa dance traditions. Performing
under all these traditions have also been conserved by recording them on
CDs. Action has been taken to introduce and popularise these dancing forms
among the public by means of television while such items are performed at
State ceremonies to ensure the conservation of these items, the minister
said. The Ministry had initiated several other programmes to expedite the
process of national integration through cultural harmony, he added
(Island : 6 Aug 2010).

US suspects LTTE's global
financial network still intact - Over a year
after Sri Lanka won the war against LTTE, the US still suspects that the
international financial support network of the Tamil Tigers remains
largely intact. However, the State Department, noted that the network
likely suffered a serious blow with the arrest of Kumaran Padmanathan, who
is alleged to have controlled the arms network of the now vanquished
terror outfit. In its Congressionally-mandated 'Country Reports on
Terrorism for the year 2009', the State Department said: "In spite of
losing the war on the ground in Sri Lanka, the LTTE's international
network of financial support was suspected to have survived largely
intact." "However, the international network likely suffered a
serious blow by the August arrest in Southeast Asia and rendition to Sri
Lanka of Selvarajah Patmanathan (aka KP), the LTTE's principle financier
and arms supplier," it said. The international network continued to
collect contributions from the Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe,
and Australia, where there were reports that some of these contributions
were coerced by locally-based LTTE sympathisers. "The LTTE also used
Tamil charitable organizations as fronts for fundraising," the State
Department said in the report. The report noted that the Sri Lankan
government was criticised for using former LTTE paramilitary organisations
that relied on abduction, extra-judicial killings and other illegal
tactics to combat the LTTE and their suspected sympathisers. "As the
military recaptured the remainder of the LTTE-held territory, the LTTE
reverted increasingly to more asymmetrical tactics, including suicide
bombers and other terrorist attacks, some of which caused serious civilian
casualties," it said. The report said the Sri Lankan government
effectively dismantled much of the LTTE, after cornering remaining LTTE
fighters and several hundred thousand civilians in the northeast of the
island (Economic
Times ; 6 Aug 2010).

Kumarigama, Ampara: 1988
and 2010 - This was LTTE time. This was a
time of unexpected attacks at night and even during the day. LTTE freedom
fighters setting up booby traps, stopping buses, shooting passengers,
storming into villages murdering children, pregnant women, the sick and
the elderly in cold blood. It was a time of butchery. I was at the back of
the bus. We were approaching Arantalawa, where the LTTE had killed some 30
odd Buddhist monks traveling in a bus. A fellow passenger, a student from
the University of Sri Jayawardenapura, seated at the left end of the back
seat of the bus, i.e. next to me, told me (in jest): This is a
dangerous stretch; the LTTE can come out from the shrub jungles over there
(pointing towards the East) and shoot. We are used to it. We have our
palms to protects us (he lifted his left hand, finger outstretched and
together, indicating that this was how a bullet that might otherwise hit
the head would be stopped). I saw the humour but couldnt really
laugh. Humour. Thats all they had. That night, seated outside his
house, Premasiri told me how the LTTE had attacked a village close to his:
They came in the night. Everyone was asleep. Before anyone could do
anything, they had killed dozens of people. (Daily
News : 6 Aug 2010).

Govt refuses to answer
question on KP Says this will endanger national security:
The Government yesterday refused to answer several questions raised by an
Opposition MP regarding senior LTTE member Kumaran Padmanathan alias KP on
the grounds that revealing these details would put National Security in
jeopardy. information is sensitive in nature and will compromise National
Security if made public, Leader of the House, Irrigation Minister Nimal
Siripala de Silva told the House in reply to questions raised by DNA MP
Anura Kumara Dissanayake. Among the questions, the MP raised were about
the KPs whereabouts if he to be given special pardon or if he is going
to be charged in Court. Minister de Silva said investigations were still
underway and details would be revealed on a later day. National
Security is of utmost importance, he said (Daily
News : 6 Aug 2010).

AYUBOWAN KP! AYUBOWAN
RUDRAKUMARAN! A MATURE APPROACH TO RECONCILIATION -
On the eve of the anniversary of his being captured last year in August,
the infamous T.S. Pathmanathan, alias KP, known to us all as the man who
succeeded the erstwhile leader of the LTTE, gave an unprecedented
interview to a daily newspaper, citing his support to the Government of
Sri Lanka in helping to rebuild the war devastated regions in the North
and the East of the country. Reading the three day interview, the first
impression one gets is as to how, a man vastly responsible for the
devastation during the past thirty years, could change his views to such a
degree. He was after all, the man who procured all those weapons of
destruction by the shipload! Therefore, should he, according to many Sri
Lankans, not be punished and prosecuted the way a terrorist should be? Or
do we undertake a more mature approach? Won't KP in jail be just another
prisoner? Or do we realize that KP out of jail, is of far more value to
Sri Lanka's efforts at reconciliation? (Daily
Mirror : 6 Aug 2010).

LTTE
attempting to play transnational terrorist game

Kumaran Pathmanathan,
alias Tharmalingam, alias Shanmugam Kumaran, alias KP- Arms smuggler,
money launderer, the heir to the terrorism of Prabhakaran -
by Charles.S.Perera - There is a recurring news item about Kumaran
Pathmanathan . He was the man who was named by Prabhakaran the terrorist
to take over the terrorist activities after him. A person to be considered
reliable by the worlds most ruthless terrorist Velupillai Prabhakaran to
carry on his terrorist activities after him , must be one who is as equal
to him to carry on terrorism from where he had stopped. Robert Blake is
said to have had direct contact with the LTTE terrorist leadership through
Kumaran Pathmanathan- a known arms smuggler and money launderer. He was
also identified as Tharmalingham, Shanmugam Kumaran or KP . He was placed
on Interpol red notice, which seeks the arrest or provisional arrest of
wanted persons with a view to extradition, at Indias request following
the murder of Rajiv Ghandi by the Tamil Tigers. Operating the Tigers
procurement network clandestinely from Thailand and Malaysia, KP managed
to evade arrest and was appointed as the LTTE head of International
relations. And subsequently named as the leader of the LTTE after him, by
the thalaivar Prabhakaran himself. This is how he was identified before
his arrest by the Government of Sri Lanka. Kumaran Pathmanathan did
neither surrender to the Government nor did he after his arrest decline to
continue terrorism as a means to set up an Eelam State for the Tamils in
Sri Lanka (LankaWeb
: 5 Aug 2010).

US suspects LTTE's global
financial network still intact - Over a year
after Sri Lanka won the war against the LTTE, the US still suspects that
the international financial support network of the Tamil Tigers remains
largely intact. However, the state department, noted that the network
likely suffered a serious blow with the arrest of Kumaran Padmanathan, who
is alleged to have controlled the arms network of the now vanquished
terror outfit. In its congressionally-mandated 'Country Reports on
Terrorism for the year 2009', the state department said, "In spite of
losing the war on the ground in Sri Lanka, the LTTE's international
network of financial support was suspected to have survived largely
intact." "However, the international network likely suffered a
serious blow by the August arrest in Southeast Asia and rendition to Sri
Lanka of Selvarajah Patmanathan (aka KP), the LTTE's principle financier
and arms supplier," it said. The international network continued to
collect contributions from the Tamil diaspora in North America, Europe,
and Australia, where there were reports that some of these contributions
were coerced by locally-based LTTE sympathisers (DNA
: 5 Aug 2010).

More Tamil vessels may be
headed for Canada - As the MV Sun Sea approaches
the B.C. coast, two more ships of potential asylum seekers are preparing
to set sail, terrorism expert says. Two shiploads of potential
asylum seekers are waiting to see how Canada deals with a vessel expected
to arrive in B.C. next week with 200 Tamils on board before deciding if
they, too, will head for Canadas shores, a top terrorism expert
says. There are two other vessels that are planning to conduct a
similar voyage to Canada, said Rohan Gunaratna, who heads a research
centre in Singapore. Dr. Gunaratna, whose area of expertise is Sri Lankas
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, declined to disclose his sources but was
one of the first people to warn Canada about the MV Sun Sea  which
reports say is in the eastern Pacific Ocean bound for British Columbia 
when the ship was initially travelling to Australia. In a telephone
interview, Dr. Gunaratna said the MV Sun Sea will likely arrive in B.C.
some time next week, less than a year after the migrant ship Ocean Lady
arrived off Canadas west coast with 76 Tamil asylum seekers on board (Globe
and Mail : 5 Aug 2010).

LTTE attempting to play
transnational terrorist game - Ex US Assistant Secretary -
The boat carrying around 200 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka heading towards
North America was part of an attempt by the Tigers to create a network
again and play the transnational terrorist game, the Washington Post
quoting former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for South and
Southeast Asia James Clad, reported yesterday. Im not an advocate
for sending people back to their deaths, but that is just not happening in
Sri Lanka, he said. Ive helped a lot of migrants before, but I
know a scam when I see one, he added. Excerpts from the Washington Post
article: An estimated 200 asylum seekers from Sri Lanka, including some
believed to be members of a group the United States has labelled a
terrorist organization, are aboard a ship in the Pacific Ocean heading
towards North America, according to U S Government officials and other
sources. The MV Sun Sea had been destined for Australia but changed course
after its captain determined that Australias navy and coastguard would
prevent it from landing. Its current destination is believed to be the
west coast of Canada, and it is expected to make landfall mid-month. We
are aware of the vessel and are monitoring its progress, Homeland
Security Department Spokesman Matthew Chandler said. Should an
emergency arise, the United States will respond appropriately. The
passengers are believed to include members of the LTTE as well as women
and children. Sri Lankan newspaper reports said the ship had passed
through the Straits of Malacca and was monitored by the Thai navy before
heading east toward North America (Daily
News : 5 Aug 2010).

A post  war challenge
for Sri Lanka: Dismantling the LTTE overseas and rebuilding a Sri Lankan
identity - Sri Lanka defeated the worlds
first insurgency of the 21st century.1 On May 19, 2009, the country
achieved a great strategic and moral triumph by militarily defeating the
LTTE, said Professor Rohan Gunaratna. In a keynote address delivered at
the Auditorium of the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute on the invitation of
the Nandadasa Kodagoda Memorial Trust Professor Gunaratna further said,
The theory that a political solution is a prelude to defeating an
insurgency articulated by Western theorists and scholars was shattered.
After three decades of fighting a cruel and costly insurgency, peace
finally returned to Sri Lanka. He observed that whether peace will endure
and future prosperity will be achieved will depend on the ability and
willingness of the political leaders of the country to work together
across the party divide to build a new Sri Lanka.  Given below the full
text of the address by Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security Studies at
the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological
University, Singapore: (Asian
Tribune ; 5 Aug 2010).

Sri
Lanka Government confiscating LTTE assets

Desmond Tutu rebukes Sri
Lanka - By Asoka Weerasinghe, Canada - OPEN
LETTER to Former Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, Desmond Tutu, The
Leader of THE ELDERS COUNCIL, Dear Desmond Tutu: I just read a news item
by-lined by Robert Mackey which said Desmond Tutu Rebukes Sri Lanka.
Oh, No, not you again Desmond! I thought. A few lines down the news
item, it said, The Elders, a council of retired global leaders led by
Desmond Tutu, issues statement on Tuesday rebuking the government of Sri
Lanka . Ha! Well I thought, Desmond. Trying to find who these
great world leaders were I found out that they included Kofi Annan and
Jimmy Carter and of course, the inimitable you leading the pack. The
Elders you called yourself, and I expected you all to be a bunch like
The Elders of the First Nations communities, who have been a group of
greatly respected members of the communities of the North American Native
peoples. They were the primary source of all the knowledge that has been
accumulated by their communities as they are teachers, philosophers,
historians, healers, judges and counsellors. These are the elders who have
been the keepers of spiritual ceremonies and traditional laws and have
sustained First Nations through thousands of years (LankaWeb
: 4 Aug 2010).

Eelam War IV, writing in
the public interest and DRW Award II -
Journalism Awards for Excellence: A different perspective - The
Colombo-based pro-LTTE lobby had control over key decision makers in the
then UNP-led UNF government, which ousted President Chandrika Kumaratungas
PA at the December 5, 2001 parliamentary elections. The grouping brazenly
promoted separatist sentiments at the expense of the military
establishment. The state-run media turned a blind eye to the rapidly
deteriorating situation as the LTTE exploited the CFA to strengthen its
political and military hold of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Until
President Kumaratunga stepped in early 2004 to take over three key
ministries, including media and defence, the government and its media
gurus had had a field day. The then Eastern Naval Commander Rear Admiral
Wasantha Karannagoda had been at the receiving end of a hostile propaganda
campaign for publicly warning of an LTTE build-up in the East. A section
of the state media, which now boasts of spearheading a media blitz against
the LTTE during Eelam War IV, went to the extent of ridiculing the officer
at the behest of the UNP leaders. The Island provided him with space to
explain his position (Island
: 4 Aug 2010).

Ex-LTTE cadres receiving
vocational training  Dew - Rehabilitation and
Prison Reforms Minister Dew Gunasekera yesterday told parliament that
133,848 persons had been accommodated in 237 welfare facilities in the
Northern and Eastern provinces. Of them, former LTTE cadres had been given
an opportunity to receive vocational training in masonry, plumbing,
carpentry, computer technology, apparel industry and agriculture, he said.
Minister Gunasekera said that some of the ex-combatants had been provided
with residential training facilities at the Hindu College in Ratmalana.
According to him, steps had been taken to provide educational facilities
to those studying for the GCE (Ordinary Level) and GCE (Advanced Level)
examinations. The government had set up two special education centres in
Vavuniya for this purpose, he said. The Minister was responding to a query
from UNP Kurunegala District MP Dayasiri Jayasekera (Island
: 4 Aug 2010).

Government confiscating
LTTE assets - Prime Minister DM Jayaratne
yesterday stated that the Government is in the process to confiscating the
assets including houses, plots of land and business establishments that
were run by the LTTE in Colombo and the suburbs. The Prime Minister
moving the Motion to extend the Emergency Regulations by another one
month, in Parliament further stated that information about the assets of
the LTTE in Colombo and the suburbs are being divulged by LTTE cadres who
have been arrested. The Premier further said that 723 LTTE cadres
were arrested by the Security Forces from IDP centres during the last
month. Altogether 765 have been arrested under the Public Security
Ordinance and another 74 under the Prevention of Terrorism Act. He further
stated that with the information received from LTTE cadres in custody
large quantities of weapons hidden by the LTTE are still being recovered.
The Prime Minister also stated it is obvious that the pro-LTTE
International Organizations are attempting to reinvigorate the LTTE. The
Government of Canada very recently banned an NGO that supported the LTTE.
Another person in South India was also imprisoned for one year after
continuing to support the LTTE. The Premier said that on these grounds,
the extension of Emergency Regulations was essential and requested the
members of the House to vote for the Emergency Regulations and unite to
develop the country's economy (Daily
News : 4 Aug 2010).

Tamil Migrant Ship M/V
Sun Sea will arrive Canada by Aug 14th - By
Gamage Bandulahewa - The 59-metre Thailand registered 767 Ton Macgregor
type cargo ship "Harin Panich 19", now renamed as MV Sun Sea
with over 200 Tamil migrants on board, destined for Canada from Maldives
is expected to arrive the Canadian Coast close to Victoria in Province of
British Columbia by August 14th but depending on the conditions of high
seas of Pacific Ocean it may arrive few days early or few days late. The
vessel was spotted in the Gulf of Thailand by the Philippine Coast Guard
in May. The Asian Tribune reported in July that MV Sun Sea was seen near
Guatemala heading north towards Canada 10 days ago. The U.S. Coast Guard
Pacific Division based out of San Francisco confirmed a sighting of the MV
Sun Sea. All I can say is that it is carrying the Thai flag and it is
believed to be travelling towards British Columbia, Adam Stanton of the
Coast Guards Pacific area public affairs office said, but would not
comment on its exact whereabouts. Many aboard the ship are members of the
terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Movement of a
large number of high-value combatants and intelligence officers aboard MV
Sun Sea may be part of an effort by surviving members of the LTTE to
reconstitute from a base of operations in Canada. The ship is captained by
Kamalraj Kandasamy a.k.a Vinod, a senior member of the LTTE who conducted
North Korean arms procurement voyages for the LTTE and manned by a
24-member crew. The LTTEs shipping and procurement staffers are highly
skilled. They are masters in clandestine and compartmentalized operations.
Today, they want to survive and people smuggling is one of their most
lucrative businesses (Asian
Tribune : 4 Aug 2010).

The
Australian Navy have arrested 81 Sri Lankan Tamils for illegally trying to
enter Australia

UN panel prepares list -
The Panel appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon to advise him on
matters relating to Sri Lanka is compiling a list of Sri Lankan officials
who will be approached in order to gather information to compile a report,
UN sources told Daily Mirror online. When asked if detained former Army
Chief General Sarath Fonseka is among those likely to be approached, the
UN source refused to commit to a response but added that his name may
be included after the General himself publicly announced that he is
prepared to meet the Expert Panel. The panel is yet to name the Sri Lankan
officials who are likely to be approached and although the Sri Lankan
government has already said that visas will not be given to the panel
members to visit Sri Lanka to carry out their work, there is a possibility
that the information will be collected over the telephone. Ban Ki Moon
appointed his three member panel in June to advise him on implementing the
commitment on human rights accountability made in the Joint Statement
issued by the Secretary-General and Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa
after the UN chief visited the island in May 2009. Meanwhile speaking to
Daily Mirror online from New York, the UNs Associate Spokesperson
Farhan Haqq said that the three member panel had already held its first
meeting in New York and are expected to meet again early this month.
However Haqq said that while an exact date could not be given for the
panels second meeting, it was during this meeting that the panel would
formally begin its work and start the four month deadline. Although the
panel already met once, it will begin its formal work when they meet for
the second time in the early weeks of August, Haqq said. When
questioned if the panel was an investigative body since most of its staff
was from the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights, Haqq
reiterated that the three member panel was not an investigative body and
was only an advisory panel. Although some of their staff is from Navi
Pillais office, this is not an investigative body and will not be
conducting investigations in any way. This is clearly an advisory body,
Haqq said. When further questioned if any Sri Lankan officials would be
approached to gather information by the panel Haqq said, We will allow
the panel to decide how exactly their work is going to be conducted and
will not make comments on behalf of the panel. (Daily
Mirror online : 3 Aug 2010)

Sri Lanka - New look for
Colombo with LTTEs demise  Dr. Kohona -
Today, with the demise of the Tamil Tigers, Galle Face is thronged with
people. Children flying kites, ice cream and kadala vendors competing with
each other to attract their attention, balloons bobbing up joyously in
childrens hands, lovers cuddling under black umbrellas  this is
peace indeed after the end of the dreaded Tamil Tigers, the Sri Lankan
Ambassador to UN, Dr. Palitha Kohona states in the Jim Luce Stewardship
Report dated July 25, 2010. He adds that this is a different situation to
what was witnessed earlier during the reign of terror unleashed by the
Tamil Tigers with road side bombs being exploded regularly and
civilians being targeted indiscriminately. The Galle Face Green
emptied and remained abandoned by the public during this long period.
There were no childish squeals or coy giggles of young lovers, Dr.
Kohona states. Following is the article on the Jim Luce Stewardship report
by Dr. Palitha Kohona: (ISRIA
: 3 Aug 2010).

PM says 723 LTTE cadres
arrested from welfare camps in July - Prime
Minister D. M. Jayaratne yesterday told Parliament that in July security
authorities had arrested 723 LTTE cadres from welfare camps. Moving a
motion, seeking the extension of the state of emergency by one month, PM
Jayaratne said that altogether 765 persons had been arrested under
emergency regulations and out of them, 74 were detained under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act. Emphasising on the need to continue with
emergency regulations, Jayaratne said emergency regulations were needed to
ensure the LTTE would not make a fresh attempt to destabilize the country.
Although the LTTE had been crushed militarily, Jayaratne said that there
were some elements still trying to revive the separatist cause. He said:
"We need emergency regulations to curb such attempts. The
international community has realized its folly in allowing the LTTE to
operate abroad. But they are now taking action against them." (Island
: 3 Aug 2010).

Wanted in Rajiv case, KP now heading NGO in Lanka -
"LTTE's self proclaimed leader in exile Kumaran Patmanathan alias
KP was the key arms smuggler who conspired to assassinate several VVIPs
including the former Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi." That was
Sri Lanka governments portal news.lks description of KP on August 7,
2009, two days after his arrest in Kuala Lumpur. A year later, the
smuggler and conspirator has become a VVIP himself. Seldom does a prisoner
 hes yet to be produced in court after a year  get to invite
business delegates from abroad, fly to other parts of the country with
them and even issue a statement inviting foreign investments. But KP,
a terrorist by the governments own admission, is no ordinary prisoner.
He had two dozen aliases during his career of buying arms and gathering
money for the LTTE but the government now sees him under a new softer
light, almost a halo  a critical bridge between Colombo and a section
of the reluctant but rich Tamil diaspora; also someone who would have the
lucrative key to LTTEs international assets including bank accounts and
financial assets. Probably as a small measure of gratitude, the
happy, expectant government has bestowed upon him the secretary-ship of a
new NGO, the `North-East Rehabilitation and Development Organisation (NERDO).
Which is not too bad for government patronage for someone in Interpols
most wanted list and wanted in a neighbouring country for his role in
murdering a former PM. "We need your help. We need it now. We
need your physical, intellectual and financial contribution. We need your
advice and plans, KP recently wrote to Tamil diaspora businessmen
with all the enthusiasm of a broker. The perennially suspicious and
Marxist party, Janatha Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) found all this new found
cosiness and exchange of letters a bit jarring. It pointed out that while
KP gets to wear a new cap and give leisurely newspaper interviews, Sri
Lanka has another high-profile prisoner, former army chief, Sarath Fonseka,
who was actually on the winning side in the civil war but is now charged
with corruption and conspiracy (Hindustan
Times : 3 Aug 2010).

I confess! -
By Malinda Seneviratne - On the 28th day of December in the year 2008, I
stated in a weekly column I wrote to a national newspaper that the outcome
of the war was a toss up, that it was impossible to tell if the Sri Lankan
security forces would defeat the LTTE or whether the LTTE would rout the
troops and secure a decisive victory, I confess. Considering the
fact that the Army liberated Kilinochchi 5 days later, i.e. the second day
of January, 2009, I confess I could offer one of two explanations for my
inability as defence correspondent. I could explain my inability in terms
of outcome-preference, i.e. I wanted the LTTE to win or that I wanted the
Government to lose, which is and is not the same thing. I confess that I
do understand that my statement looks silly in light of what happened on
January 2, 2009 and that I opened myself to the charge of
journalistic/analytical incompetence. I confess that I have been
selective in my reportage, highlighting certain irregularities in the
security forces while playing down or even ignoring others. I confess that
this selectivity could be interpreted as mischievous. Indeed, I confess
that it opens me to the charge of using whatever information I got my
hands on to blackmail people. I confess that my behaviour and
selectivity can very well make people believe that information I once
unearthed regarding procurement irregularities was used to arm-twist a
senior minister into securing for myself some real estate (Sinhale
Hot News : 3 Aug 2010).

Lankan boat people
arrested - The Australian Navy have arrested 81
Sri Lankan Tamils for illegally trying to enter Australia on the maritime
boarder near Christmas Island yesterday. According to the External Affairs
Ministrys spokesman here, the boat was spotted close to Christmas
Island and on the verge of sinking when the Australian Navy rescued
it. He said that the rescued boat people were brought a shore along
with the boat. They have sent to hospital for treatment. The
Australian Navy arrested the boat owners and are conducting further
investigations (Daily
News : 2 Aug 2010).

Govt. must engage with
world community to stop LTTE from reorganizing - Prof. Rohan Gunaratne --
Head of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism
Research at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore -- told HARD
TALK that the government must not lose any time in engaging the Western
nations that are the safe havens of the LTTE international network, to
curb what he believed was a serious threat to Sri Lanka. He was also of
the view that the government must meet the concerns of the international
community to fight the growing threat against the country by the LTTE.
Prof. Gunaratne is the author of several books on the Sri Lankan conflict
and is in Sri Lanka to deliver the Prof. Nandadasa Kodagoda memorial
lecture at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute today. He said it was
important for the government to appraise the Tamil Diaspora on the work it
is doing for the welfare of the Tamil civilians in the North and the East (Daily
Mirror ; 2 Aug 2010).

Legal action against LTTE
members - Legal action would soon be taken
against 1,350 frontline LTTE members now in custody, a Police source
said. A senior police officer stated that when they were in the LTTE
they had been identified as having been involved in serious crimes.
Out of them 650 are in a detention camp in Vavuniya while 700 are in the
Boossa detention camp in Galle. Legal action would be instituted against
those who had attacked villages, killed ordinary citizens and assassinated
prominent people and officers of the Security forces. Police said
that among those against whom legal action would be instituted were those
who gathered information for assassinations, transporting weapons and
frontline operation against the forces. These suspects had been
identified after a lengthy investigation and were taken into custody and
from those who surrendered to the security forces during the last stages
of the war (Daily
Mirror : 2 Aug 2010).

Explosives recovered in
Killinochchi - A special team from the
Trincomalee police recovered 50 kilograms of C4 explosives during a search
operation carried out in Periyakulam, Vettikachchi and Killinochchi on
Saturday. Ninety Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPG) ammunition, ten
ammunition rounds used for 60 mm mortar bombs, 29 RPG chargers, forty five
hand grenades, 750 grams of TNT explosives and three pressure mines were
also recovered during a search operation carried out on the same day in
Killinochchi. The operations were conducted following information gathered
from a former LTTE regional leader in police custody. Meanwhile in
Serunuwara, a special team deployed by the Serunuwara police recovered a
T56 assault rifle, one T56 magazine and 216 ammunition rounds used for T56
assault rifles during a search operation carried out in Echchalanpaththu
in Punagar. A large quantity of arms and ammunition hidden underground by
the LTTE in the Northern and Eastern Provinces was recovered by the Armed
Forces and the Special Task Force (STF) since the conflict ended in May
last year. Security Forces are continuing their search operations
especially in the two provinces which were once strong foot holds of the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) and large quantities of buried
weapons exist as a result of it (Daily
Mirror : 2 Aug 2010).

Oluvil harbour work over
before year end - Construction work of the
Oluvil harbour will be completed before the end of the year, Ports and
Aviation Deputy Minister Rohitha Abeygunawardena said. The first phase of
the Oluvil harbour that comprises 52 percent of the total construction has
already been completed. The second phase has started. Work is
underway to rapidly complete the project before the expected time, he
said. By the first quarter of 2011, it is intended to vest the
harbour to the public. The main objective of the harbour is to lobby all
commercial activities in the Eastern region, Abeygunawardena said.
The construction of a harbour in the Eastern Province was decided in the
Government as part of a broader infrastructural development drive
undertaken to improve the quality of life and ensure economic growth, he
said. Work on the Oluvil Harbour began on May 2008. It consists of a
trade complex and fisheries port.The trade complex is 330 metres in length
and has an eight metre deep jetty. The Fisheries port consists of a fish
stall, a freezing facility centre, nets and other equipments. The Danish
Government has given Rs 6,634 million to construct the harbour (Daily
News : 2 Aug 2010).

US sleuths bribed suspect
to limit wikileaks expose: Report - US
investigators probing leaks of defence secrets by whistleblowing website
WikiLeaks tried to bribe a suspect to "infiltrate" its data and
prevent further revelations, a media report said on Sunday.
Investigators interviewed Boston-area acquaintances of Bradley E. Manning,
a military analyst charged with providing documents related to Afghanistan
war to the website, in an effort to prevent additional leaks, The
Washington Post reported citing a person questioned in the probe.
The investigators from the Army and the state department seemed to be
"looking for classified documents that they thought to be in the
Boston area", the acquaintance said on condition of anonymity.
"I got the impression that we're still in the process of containing a
leak." The man, a computer expert who met Manning in January,
said he told the investigators in mid-June that he knew of no such
documents. The computer expert also said the army offered him cash to
"infiltrate" WikiLeaks. "I turned them down. I don't
want anything to do with this cloak-and-dagger stuff," he was quoted
as saying. The interview was among at least two investigations
conducted in the Boston area after Manning was accused of giving WikiLeaks
state department cables and a video of a helicopter attack in which
unarmed civilians were killed in Baghdad, The Post said. Officials said
they were investigating whether Manning leaked the Afghanistan documents
made public last week, a disclosure that prompted condemnation from the
Obama administration
(Sri Lanka Defence Ministry : 2 Aug 2010).

GO TO CANADA? MEET
NIKULUS FROM MARKHAM, ONTARIO - By Hasaka
Ratnamalala  Mississauga, Ontario - Another ship load of Tamil so
called refugees, heading towards Canadian coast; this time more than a
year after the end of Sri Lankas conflict. After more than 250,000 IDPs
resettled, more than million land mines were cleared, hundreds of child
soldiers and LTTE carders were rehabilitated, eastern province elections
and general election were held and when a time the country is rapidly
going into normalcy, this ship load of Tamils coming to claim refuge in
Canada. According to pro LTTE media in Canada their representative in
Toronto David Poopalapillai and members of Canadian Council for Refugees
and Amnesty International met high ranking ministers in Canadian
conservative government in order to facilitate the Sun & Sea an
another ship with Tamils looking for good time in Canada. Canadian
conservative government seems to be more accommodating and welcoming the
people smugglers this time. The defence minister Mr. Peter MacKay says he
is arranging medical treatments for incoming Tamils, this is a quite a U
turn comparing to the last ship load of 76 Tamils which, the minister
first ordered to arrest and investigate. Also, this time Canadian Defence
minister avoiding using his power under Marine transportation security
act. Where, he could order to turn the ship away, before the ship enters
into Canadian territory (LankaWeb
: 2 Aug 2010).

Red Cross houses for IDPs
- The Sri Lanka Red Cross has started its
recovery assistance program to returnee Internally Displaced People (IDPs).
First instalments (Rs 50,000) of housing grant (Rs 325,000) were
transferred to families in Vivegananthanagar, Ananthapuram and Kanesapuram
in Kilinochchi District to rebuild their own homes. The Sri Lanka Red
Cross with the support of German Red Cross is assisting 400 families to
rebuild their homes. Ground operations are implemented by Col Sudath
Madugalle and his team at Sri Lanka Red Cross Society. The Sri Lanka Red
Cross is working in collaboration with the Presidential Task Force for
Resettlement, Development and Security in the Northern Province, in
implementing this program. Among the identified issues which would deter
the implementation, non-availability of Land Ownership Deeds has been the
major concern. Abeywickrama said considering the plight the most
vulnerable people are going through being displaced, due to the war and
some of whom even due to the tsunami disaster, when they have gone back,
we should be deliberating assistance to them urgently. During the first
phase of this program the Sri Lanka Red Cross together with International
Federation (IFRC) and its Partner National Societies (PNSs) intend to
assist 2000 families to rebuild 800 totally damaged houses and repair 1200
partially damaged houses, extending financial and technical assistance for
house rebuilding, livelihood improvement and included with Community Based
Health (CBH), Water & Sanitation and Disaster Management (CBDM)
components which will reach red cross assistance to at least 5000 IPD
families (25,000 people) in the returned communities (Daily
News : 2 Aug 2010).

Official to visit Sri
Lanka to assess rehabilitation work - senior
official of the External Affairs Ministry will visit Sri Lanka in a week
to assess the progress of rehabilitation in Tamil areas, Union Home
Minister P. Chidambaram said on Sunday. Speaking to reporters after
meeting the Chief Minister, Mr. Chidambaram said he had conveyed the good
news to him. When we met last time we discussed the rehabilitation.
Now, I informed him about the decisions taken on the issue, he
said. Besides collecting information about the progress of the
housing scheme and the guidelines adopted by the Sri Lankan government for
allocation of houses, the official would also find out how many Tamils had
returned to their homes. Mr Chidambaram said the official would also
assess the various works sponsored by the Indian government, including the
renovation of Palali Airport and Kankesanthurai Port. He will find out
what is needed in the future, he said (Hindu
: 2 Aug 2010).

LTTE
ship, carrying at least 200 LTTE cadres and hardcore leaders on the way to
Canada

Lankan migrants nabbed - Eighty
five Sri Lankans who attempted to migrate to Australia illegally through
the maritime border were arrested by the Australian navy. These arrests
were made when the migrants were sited in a small boat close to Christmas
Island. The migrants were mostly Tamil nationals. The boatman was also
arrested by the Australian navy (Daily
Mirror : 2 Aug 2010).

Outfit did not negotiate
honestly: LTTEs withdrawal from talks, a severe blunder - Dr. Joy
Maheswaran - Dr. Joy Maheswaran, one of the key
negotiators of the LTTE when the outfit engaged in talks with the
Government from 2002 to 2005, said that the LTTE made a severe blunder by
withdrawing from the peace talks and had dug its own grave. Dr. Maheswaran
who is currently domiciled in Melbourne, Australia was delivering the
Professor Eliazer memorial lecture at the University of Monash last week.
Elaborating on the blunders that the LTTE had committed, Dr. Maheswaran
said that the outfit did not negotiate honestly to reach a durable
settlement to the national question in Sri Lanka and did not conduct
themselves in a reliable manner. Commenting on the LTTE, he said that the
LTTE had been defeated completely and there was no way the outfit could
regroup again. The LTTE could have exploited the opportunity it gained
in winning the rights of the Tamils and establishing peace in the island.
However, the outfit had blundered in everything and toppled the apple
cart, Dr. Maheswaran said. The Government is now in a strong position
and the Tamils should talk to the Government to win their rights. Dr.
Maheswaran also called upon the Tamil diaspora to support the
rehabilitation and the reconstruction process in the North and the East by
coordinating with the Government (Sunday
Observer ; 1 Aug 2010)..

Canadian authorities
monitoring the arrival of Sri Lankan migrant ship -
Canadian authorities are preparing to handle any situation that may be
arising from the arrival of a migrant ship carrying Sri Lankan Tamil
refugees in Vancouver island some time in the second week of August.
The Canadian Defence Ministry says it is prepared to intercept the ship,
reportedly carrying about 200 suspected asylum seekers including women and
children from Sri Lanka. The authorities expect the ship, the second in
eight months, to arrive some time between August 8th and 20th at the
British Columbia's coast. "We are watching very closely. We are
preparing for any inevitability and we are working closely with the
international community, most notably with the United States of
America," Canada's Defence Minister Peter MacKay told Canadian
media. Sri Lankan media earlier reported that the Thai ship MV Sun
Sea is approaching Canada with more than 200 Sri Lankan migrants believed
to be Tamil Tigers aboard. According to reports the ship is
captained by a man named Vinod, a senior member of the Liberation Tigers
of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a terrorist group banned in Canada.
"We'll have ships in Canadian waters as they approach, and then an
assessment will be done with information we currently hold and anything
we'll be able to garner from direct contact," the Defence Minister
said. According to the authorities, when intercepted, the ship would
be brought to Vancouver Island, where the Immigration and Refugee Board
would process those on board (Colombo
Page : 1 Aug 2010).

Saluting a true leader in
battle as we enjoy the fruits of the end of war - Colonel Azlam Fazly
Laphir - At the end of a war it is not unusual
for disputes to emerge among the victors on the military and political
ingredients that contributed to their final success and, even more
specifically, on who deserves credit for the victory. Such disputes have
been much in evidence in Sri Lanka since the military defeated the LTTE
about 14 months ago. Moreover, it is invariably the leaders of the
successful operations against the enemy  especially, the coup de grace
 who are accorded recognition as heroes of the war. Past failures and
setbacks tend to be forgotten in the post-war euphoria. Perhaps the most
forgettable among the episodes of failure in the course of the Eelam
Wars were the debacles at Mullaitivu (July 1996) and Elephant Pass
(April 2000) at which the losses suffered by Sri Lanka included many
thousands of men-in- arms and large hauls of battle-field hardware (Sunday
Times ; 1 Aug 2010).

What was really happening
in Sri Lanka was that a blood thirsty racist group led by
some misled Tamils called LTTE was terrorizing against the Government
of Sri Lanka and its people irrespective of their ethnicity with an
intention of carving out a separate state. There is no conflict as
such between Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Sri Lanka. In fact,
the majority of the Tamil community lives in peace and harmony among
the Sinhalese population through out the country apart from the
Northern part of Sri Lanka. The entire Sinhalese and the Muslims
population who lived in the Northern area for centuries were either
killed or chased away completely by the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists.
At the moment, not a single Sinhalese or Muslim is living in Jaffna,
but, many thousands of Tamils are living in Colombo in peace with
the other communities. Based on 2001 census, the Tamil population in
Colombo district is 12.1% (see
2001 census). So, who is discriminated ? Tamils or Sinhalese? Do
you need more evidence ?

http://www.apiwenuwenapi.com/
is the official web site of the Api Wenuwen Api fund raising
campaign. The Api Wenuwen Api Fund is a collaboration between the
The Ministry of Defence and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka to build
50,000 houses for the serving Tri-Service personnel. The gift of
housing is one of the best and most tangible ways to demonstrate our
gratitude and appreciation. This is the time for all Sri Lankans to
support our brothers and sisters who are committed to bringing peace
to our motherland Sri Lanka. All contributions from the campaign and
fund raising events will be donated to Api Wenuwen Api Housing
Project in Sri Lanka.

Thawalama
Development Foundation

No. 5,
Rajakeeya Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

The
Thawalama Development Foundation (TDF) was established on 1994
April 25th to support and assist in the implementation of
Project Thawalama approved by the Ministry of Defense on 1994
January 14th. http://thawalama.org

Winning War Against
Terror, Human rights violations and War Crimes - An open
letter to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the UN, Ms. Navi
Pillay, UN Hign Commissioner of Human Rights , Ms. Radhika
Coomaraswamy, Special representative of the UN SG for
Children in Armed Conflict by Warna Hettiarachchi, Canada (Sinhale
Hot News : 6 July 2010).

British
FM David Milliband is back to his third grade gimmicks against
Sri Lanka. Please look after your back yard without poking your
stinking fingers into Sri Lankan Affairs. Sri Lanka has
had enough of you and your white clan. We do not care you guys
anymore. So, Shut up.

None of
the three vessels carrying Sri Lankan Tamils, which had been
intercepted by the Canadians and Indonesians on high seas during
the past fortnight, originated in Sri Lanka.

Conspiracy
by Arms Manufacturing Western Nations

Western Arms Manufacturers need battlefields
to sell their Arms. An estimated 500,000 individuals dies in
small arms-conflict every year, approximately one death per
minute. It is estimated that yearly, over 1 trillion dollars are
spent on military expenditure worldwide.

Open
Letter to UN Secretary General: Ms. Hillary Clintons book
on Rape has Blank pages on Okinawa - by Bandu de Silva, Former
Sri Lankan Ambassador to France, and the Vatican (Asian
Tribune ; 17 Oct 2009).

What is really happening
in Sri Lanka today is that a blood thirsty racist group led by
some misled Tamils called LTTE is terrorizing against the Government
of Sri Lanka and its people irrespective of their ethnicity with an
intention of carving out a separate state. There is no conflict as
such between Sinhalese and Tamil communities in Sri Lanka. In fact,
the majority of the Tamil community lives in peace and harmony among
the Sinhalese population through out the country apart from the
Northern part of Sri Lanka. The entire Sinhalese and the Muslims
population who lived in the Northern area for centuries were either
killed or chased away completely by the LTTE Tamil Tiger terrorists.
At the moment, not a single Sinhalese or Muslim is living in Jaffna,
but, many thousands of Tamils are living in Colombo in peace with
the other communities. Based on 2001 census, the Tamil population in
Colombo district is 12.1% (see
2001 census). So, who is discriminated ? Tamils or Sinhalese? Do
you need more evidence ?

The United States' top intelligence
agency, Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) says that the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) is the most dangerous and deadly extremist organization in the
world. The official website of FBI in its tops story said that LTTE is far more
dangerous terrorists outfit than al Queda, Hezbullah or even HAMAS.
Read more...